Sakura
by SasuSakuHeart
Summary: Set after the Land of the Waves Arc. When on a mission with her father, Sakura's life changes. For better or for worse? She doesn't know. Follows the original story but with my own twists. StrongSakura. JinchurikiSakura. SakuraCentric. Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Self-Made Arcs as well as Canon Arcs.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N My take on the Naruto series but revolving around Sakura.**

 **My own little twists will be included and it starts right after the land of the waves arc. Something big will happen to Sakura and it will affect the story a lot.**

 **Some people may like it, some people may not.**

 **I want to keep it a surprise for now but since some people may not like it, if you want to know so you can judge whether or not you want to read this, please private message me and I will tell you.**

 **Characters may be OCC because that's just they way I want them.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 1**

"Ramen!" Naruto cheered, walking into the village with his teammates.

"I have to go give in the mission report." Kakashi said. "You three should get some rest for a while. You've earned it. Forget about training for a while and rest. I'll catch up with you later to tell you when training's next on." With that, team 7's sensei teleported in a puff of air.

Sakura stretched, weaving her hand through her hair. She wanted to sleep. Badly.

"Sakura-chan!"

 _Dammit!_ Sakura thought, inwardly rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, Naruto?" She asked, turning to him. She took note that Sasuke had already left. Without even saying goodbye...

"Wanna go get some ramen? My treat!" The blond genin took a stuffed frog wallet out of his pocket, waving it in the air.

Sakura's stomach growled. Loudly. "Sure." She blushed. _That was very unlady-like._

"Did you see? Did you see?" Naruto was explaining all the super cool stuff he did during the mission.

"Yeah, Naruto... I saw." Sakura said, slurping some noodles. _Mainly because all I did was watch..._

"Sasuke-teme was trying to show me up at the end though! I'll show him!" A fire started burning in Naruto's eyes but Sakura ignored, too lost in thought.

 _All I did was watch while Naruto and Sasuke protected me..._ Sakura sighed out loud.

 **Shannaro** **! Why are you complaining?! Sasuke's protecting you!** Inner Sakura shouted.

 _I don't want to be protected..._

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Hm?" Sakura turned to him.

"Isn't this..." The boy blushed. "...Like a date?"

"...Oh, HELL NO!" A punch sent Naruto flying out of his favourite ramen shop.

Sakura decided to leave some money so it wasn't as if it was a date. She then walked passed the comatose teammate of hers, now on her way home.

"Sakura, is that you?" Sakura's mother, Mebuki, asked from the kitchen after Sakura had walked into her home.

"Yes, Kaa-san." Sakura walked into the kitchen, grabbing an apple and sitting at the table.

"How was the mission?" Mebuki asked.

"It was... Hard." Sakura said. "It turned out to be an A rank."

"What?!" Her mother shouted. "Genin are not meant to be given A rank missions!"

"It was a C rank missiom but it was only filed as that so the... requester didn't have to give so much money."

"He put kids in trouble just so he didn't have to give more money?" The woman sighed. "You're okay?"

"Just tired..." Sakura trailed off. "I didn't get hurt much... Naruto and Sasuke-kun did though..." A sigh escaped her lips.

"They'll be okay."

 _Of course they're going to be okay... I wasn't sighing about that._

"I'm going to bed." Sakura said. "Wait, where's Otou-san?"

"He's with the Hokage. He'll be back soon." Her mom answered and Sakura nodded before walking up the stairs.

"Sakura-chan! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

Sakura threw another shuriken at her target. "Training." She said. Currently, they were at the Third Training Grounds.

"But Kakashi-sensei told us to rest." Naruto pointed out.

"I rested," She threw another shuriken. "I'm training."

"Okay..." Naruto knew something was off. But he didn't want to die so he left it as is.

Sakura heard Naruto grumble and looked at him. He was staring at something behind her. Turning around, she saw Sasuke approaching them. _I guess we all decided to train..._

Sasuke walked straight passed them and into the forest. "Asshole!" Naruto shouted. "He thinks he's so much better than us!"

"I am better than you, Dobe." Sasuke said, walking back to glare at Naruto. He had heard the prior insult. Suna probably did too with the idiot's loud voice.

"You wanna go right now! 'Cause I'll kick your ass!"

"You two aren't worth my time." Sasuke said.

 _Why am I getting involved?_ Sakura thought.

"Stop acting like you're so strong! I could kick you and you'll fly back to the Mist village!"

"Are you joking? I could punch the both of you and you'll be flying off of the earth."

 _Seriously... Stop._

"You're both pathetic." Sasuke continued. "Weaklings like you two shouldn't be ninja."

Sasuke barely had time to dodge the shuriken aimed at him. Looking up, he saw Sakura with her arm out, glaring at him.

Turning around, the pinkette ran off. _I like him... But sometimes, he can be a real jerk..._

"Sakura-chan..." Not only was Sasuke shocked, but Naruto was too. _Doesn't she like Sasuke?_

 _What the fuck?_ Sasuke thought.

"Hn." Sasuke walked off, back into the forest.

Sakura was trying not to cry as she ran through the village.

 _'Weaklings like you two shouldn't be ninja.'_

 _Don't you think I know that?_

Days later, Sakura was called into her living room by her father. "Yes, Otou-san?"

"I was given a C rank mission by the Hokage." Kizashi said in his normal loud voice. "I want you to come along."

"Oh." Sakura said. "Okay. What is it?" She asked.

"We just have to escort a man to his own village near the Land of Earth." Her father said, not giving her much information. "We leave tomorrow."

Sakura nodded and walked back into her room.

 _Maybe I should get more kunai..._ Sakura thought. She looked at her small set and nodded. _Definetely need more._

She walked around the market. She had already bought more kunai but she was just browsing around. She also brought some food pills.

"Sorry." Someone said when they had accidentally bumped into her. Sakura recognised the voice. "Actually, I'm not."

Ino scowled at Sakura. "What do you want, Pig? You already _didn't_ apologise. You can go."

"Shut up, forehead." Ino said.

"Ino-san." Chouji walked up to the two kunoichi currently glaring at each other. "Asuma-sensei is waiting for us." The chubby boy then threw multiple potato chips in his mouth.

"Made any progress on Sasuke lately?" Ino asked Sakura in a sing-song voice. It was if the Yamanaka was mocking her.

"What's it to you?" Sakura crossed her arms over her chest.

"You haven't, have you?" Ino smirked. "Sasuke doesn't like weak kids like you. He wants a strong woman, like me." Ino winked at Sakura, waiting for a comeback. ...But it never came.

Sakura simply walked straight passed the blonde, not glancing at her but, instead, keeping her head down.

Ino looked at her ex-friend's retreating figure. _What's wrong with her?_ Ino thought but then, she decided she didn't care. "Let's go, Chouji."

"Sakura!" Mebuki called for ger daughter. "Your friend is here!"

"Who would that be?" Sakura asked herself. She walked downstairs to see Naruto. "Naruto, what are you doing here?" She asked him.

"I have a message from Kakashi-sensei. He said to meet at the usual bridge in five days."

"Okay. Thank you, Naruto." Sakura said. _Five days seems like a long time...He probably has another mission to do. I should do my own training._

"I have to tell Teme now." Naruto said. "Uh... Sakura-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you throw that shuriken at Teme?" The boy asked.

Sakura thought for a moment. She didn't want to tell Naruto that she thought Sasuke was actually right and that she shouldn't be a ninja.

"He was asking for it." Sakura shrugged.

Naruto frowed slightly but then smiled. "Yeah, he's an asshole."

"Well, see you later, Naruto." Sakura bid farewell to her teammate and then she shut the door.

The next day, Sakura was at the leaf village gate, waiting for her father. "Sakura." Kizashi said to his daughter once he had arrived. "Are you ready?" He asked. Sakura nodded. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Sakura said. _Well, I hope this is actually a C rank and not an A rank in... disguise._ "Where's the person we're meant to be escorting?"

"Sorry, I'm late." A man, who looked about 16 years old, said to them. "My name is Are-shiki." He bowed at Sakura.

"My name is Sakura Haruno." Sakura said, bowing back.

Are-shiki was a very nice and well-mannered young man. He was the son of the mayor of the village and he had come to the leaf village because he had a personal request from his father.

"He told me to return something to a friend of his from the leaf." Are-shiki said as they were jumping from tree to tree.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked.

"Tsunade-sama." Sakura had never heard of her. "They usually meet at Tanzaku Town when my dad is fed up about something." He said.

"Isn't Tanzaku town quite far away from your village?" Kizashi asked the young man.

"Well, my father really likes the Fire country." Are-shiki shrugged.

After a day had passed, they made it to the village. "Thank you for bringing my son back home safe and sound." The mayor said, bowing at Sakura and her father.

"We must be going now." Kizashi said. Sakura knew the face he was making. He was in a rush. He usually got like this when he was missing their mother. Multiple memories, of Sakura and her father waiting for Mebuki to come home after a mission, flashed through her mind.

Sakura tried keeping up with her father on the way home. He was going fast and she was barely able to get close to him.

"Otou-san! Wait up!" She shouted. Her father stopped.

"Sorry, Sakura." He rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly.

"No matter how fast you go, it'll still take a day and a half to get home." Sakura said.

Her dad was about to respond but he looked around him. "Sakura, get your kunai out." He whispered.

"They know we're here." A voice, hidden in the shadows said. A ninja, with the Village Hidden in the Stone headband, revealed himself. Multiple more stood behind him.

"What do you want?" Kizashi said, looking back at Sakura and getting into a stance.

"We want her." One ninja gestured to Sakura, who inwardly screamed.

Sakura was scared. Two against (what? Five billion?) was not fair. And she was new at being a ninja. _And I'm weak!_

"Don't come near us!" Kizashi shouted, drawing a kunai. Sakura did the same.

"Fine. I won't." The stone shinobi smirked. Sakura was suddenly hit in the back of her neck.

 _There was someone behind us?!_

She fell to the ground and stared as her father tried fighting off the man before darkeness consumed her.

 **A/N This was meant to be shorter but I decided to write a bit more.**

 **Next chapter is where that thing happens to Sakura and it affects the story a lot.**

 **Next chapter will be a tiny bit longer.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 2**

Sakura's eyes fluttered open. She was laid down on some flat surface and everything was dark. The pinkette had no strength to even move a muscle.

"She's regaining consciousness." Someone next to her said. She couldn't see whoever it was.

Sakura felt like someone had thrown her in a pit of fire. _Am I in hell...?_ She felt as if her skin was boiling.

"Force this down her throat. We need to strengthen the seal." Another person said.

Sakura was grabbed, roughly, by her hair. Whoever had done it, forced her to sit up. Her mouth opened in pain, her eyes closed in pain, and a large pill was shoved into her mouth.

The last thing that she heard before she blacked out was:

"Intruders!"

 ** _Drip... Drip... Drip..._**

Sakura stirred. _Did I leave the bathroom tap on?_ She thought. She sat up but didn't recognise her surroundings.

It looked like she was in a sewer. Everything was dark but there was a bit of light coming from above. "How did I get here?" Sakura asked herself. There was only one place she could walk down.

Sakura walked down a hall of some sort. She didn't know where she was or how she got there. The last thing she remembered was someone shouting very loudly wherever she was taken to.

Her feet splashed in the dirty water and the hall she was walking in divided into three different directions.

 **"Sakura-chan..."** A soft, feminine voice came from the middle path.

"Who's there?" Sakura asked.

"Sakura-chan!" This time it was a loud, familiar voice ringing through the sewers.

Sakura's eyes flew open.

"Naruto, stop-" She heard Kakashi say.

"She's awake!" The blond shouted. Sakura looked around the room. It was a bright white room and the window was covered by cream-colored blinds.

Kakashi was sitting in one of the sears opposite her bed and Naruto was standing, towering over her.

 _A hospital... But...?_

"Sakura-chan!" The loud voice from before called. Naruto hugged Sakura but then quickly pulled back, staring at her in shock.

"You're really hot..." He said. Sakura's head twitched and she was about to punch him. But she actually did feel hot.

"Water..." Sakura's voice was croaky. She still felt like her body was on fire.

"I'll tell the nurse." Kakashi got up and gave her a look. It looked like pity but Sakura wasn't sure. _Why does he have to wear that damn mask?_

"Seriously, though. You're burning up." Naruto said, poking her arm.

"I know. I feel it." Sakura coughed.

A woman walked in, a glass of water in hand. "Hello, Sakura-san. Kakashi-senpai has told me that you would like something to drink."

She handed Sakura the glass, who downed it all on less than a second. "More." Sakura said.

The nurse frowned and placed her hand on Sakura's forehead before quickly pulling back. "That's... not normal." She said, forgetting about being professional.

Sakura heard Kakashi sigh. "What happened?" Sakura found herself asking, her voice slowly returning.

"You need to rest." The nurse said in a reprimanding tone.

"I need to know what happened." Sakura said. The nurse frowned before nodding.

"I'll go inform your parents." The nurse walked out.

Sakura looked at Kakashi and Naruto with an expectant look. "Naruto, let me talk with Sakura for a bit." The two twelve year olds' sensei finally said.

"What?!" Naruto shouted.

"Now Naruto." Kakashi said, sternly. Naruto reluctantly agreed, cursing as he walked out. "Sakura, what do you know that happened?" The jonin asked, sitting back in the chair he previously sat in.

"Well, I was on the way home with my dad but we were stopped by some stone ninja. I got knocked out. Later, I was laid down somewhere and I heard people speaking but someone forced me to eat some pill. I passed out a bit after."

"Sakura," Kakashi started. "Do you know about the nine tailed beasts?" He asked.

"The Kyuubi? Yeah, it attacked the village about 12 years ago, right?"

"Not just about the Kyuubi. The other eight tailed beasts."

"There are eight more?" She asked.

"They're are all around the world and used as weapons. We have the nine tailed fox, who was sealed inside someone in the leaf." Her sensei said.

"Who?"

"I shouldn't say." Sakura pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "The stone village had two tailed beasts. The Yonbi (Four tails) and the Gobi (Five tails)."

"Why are you telling me this?" Sakura asked, frowning.

"There's a reason I said "Had"." Kakashi got up again and walked to the window, rolling up the blinds, letting the sunshine in. "The leaf village now has the Gobi." He turned to her. "And it's sealed within you."

Sakura's eyes widened. _Inside me?! What?_!

"The Gobi is like a horse but with a dolphin's head-"

"Why me?" Sakura interrupted him.

"I don't know why you. I don't think it was meant for you. You were just there."

"What?"

"The stone shinobi sealed it within you." Silence followed after as Sakura processed the information.

"Then... Unseal it."

"I can't do that."

"Why?!" Sakura screamed. _It's not fair! I have some dolphin-horse inside of me?!_

"Because... You'll die." Silence followed after once again. Sakura placed her head in her hands.

 _This can't be happening to me._..

"The seal was placed on your stomach." Kakashi continued. "I'm sorry, Sakura." There was the pity.

"...I need to rest." Sakura said, getting under her covers. Kakashi nodded and walked out of the room.

Sakura now reminded the masked jonin of Rin. Being a normal girl and then going on a small mission. After that, getting kidnapped by shinobi and forced to be a host to a tailed beast.

Kakashi hoped Sakura wouldn't want to kill herself. ...Just like Rin had done.

Sakura woke up to loud voices.

"I can't believe you took her on that mission!" Mebuki shouted.

"I didn't know this would happen!" Kizashi shouted back.

"Kaa-san... Otou-san..." Sakura mumbled, sitting up.

"Sakura!" Her mother engulfed her into a hug. Kissing her cheeks, she asked. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? I'll go call the nur-"

"I'm fine." Sakura said. _And I no longer feel like I'm on fire._..

Her dad then hugged her. "I'm so so sorry." He said in the crook of her neck. Sakura didn't respond. She just hugged her father back.

"Have you eaten?" Mebuki asked her daughter. Sakura shook her head. "I'll go tell the nurse to get you something."

"What happened after I was taken?" Sakura asked her dad once her mother had left the room.

"I tried fighting them off but all they wanted to do was retreat." Kizashi said. "I sent word to the village about you and then Kakashi and Guy, who were on a different mission but on the same route, came to help you."

Sakura didn't know who Guy was. But she didn't ask.

"I gotta pee." Sakura said after a few minutes of silence.

After she was done and sitting back in bed, Mebuki came back in with a tray. "They said all you need to do is rest and you'll be as good as new in no time."

"Kakashi also said that he's pushing training back to give you time to recover." Kizashi added.

Sakura ate quietly as her mom and dad spoke to her about random things. _Guess this means I'm not allowed to train... I wonder for how long..._

 **One week later...**

"Kaa-san, I'm leaving!" Sakura shouted with the door open.

"Okay! Please be careful!" Her mother shouted back. Sakura shut the door with a roll of her eyes.

 _I can take care of myself._

Sakura walked to the bridge with her head down. _The Gobi is inside of me. I feel so different._

Sakura waited for her Inner to say something like 'Well, yeah. There's something inside of you' but the response never came. Sakura merely shrugged.

The cherry blossom felt as if she was being stared at. She would constantly look up, expecting people to whisper her name to others or just blantantly be staring at her.

"We all know I'm stronger than you!" Sakura heard Naruto shout. She saw Sasuke and Naruto on the bridge, Naruto pointing at the Uchiha.

"In what universe?" Sasuke scoffed.

"This one!" Naruto shouted. Sakura stood next to Naruto but she didn't say anything. "Hey, Sakura-chan! Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now." Sakura said, putting on a fake smile.

"Next time, don't mess up on your mission. Others have to train." Sasuke muttered the last part.

"Actually, I didn't mess up on my mission. I completed it. There was an interference on the way back." Sakura retorted, stunning her teammates.

 _What's with her?_ Sasuke thought.

 _Sakura-chan loves me now, doesn't she?_ Naruto thought, happily.

Team 7 waited in silence for Kakashi to arrive after that. Once their sensei arrived, "YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto shouted. He looked to his left and then to his right. He then looked at Sakura, in front of him, who was looking at the ground, lost in thought.

 _I thought we were both meant to say that..._ The blond scratched the back of his head. _There's defintely something up with her..._

Sakura was out of it for the whole day. She didn't look in Naruto's direction when he got beaten up for picking out the lady's special herbs, she didn't look in his direction when he fell down a waterfall and Sasuke had to save him and she didn't look in his direction when he went into the minefield with one of Kakashi's dogs.

 _Five tails..._ Was ringing through her mind throughout the day. There was only one person she wanted to speak to about this. _Nine tails..._ But Kakashi won't tell her who it was sealed within.

"Same time tomorrow." Kakashi said.

"Wai-" Naruto shouted but he had already left in a puff. "We were meant to train. Why did he leave?"

Sasuke walked away and Sakura was thinking about what she should do. _Maybe I should ask Naruto if he wants to train..._

"There's no such thing as square rocks!" Sakura heard Naruto shout. She turned to see him talking to three children. Sakura began to walk over to them.

"Let's play ninja!" Sakura knew who that was. It was the "Honourable grandson", Konohamaru.

"What kind of ninja _plays_ ninja?" Sakura asked Naruto.

"Who is..." Konohamaru started but then he stopped. "Ohhhh..." The Third Hokage's grandson smirked.

Sakura sort of tuned out of their conversation until she heard Konohamaru say "I know that she's your... girlfriend."

"Yeah... She's crazy about me." Sakura's face turned red.

"OH, HELL NO!" Much like it did in Ichiraku, the punch sent Naruto flying.

"Boss!" The children shouted.

Konohamaru turned to Sakura, who was still cooling off. "What was that for, you ugly witch?" Sakura froze.

Normally, she wouldn't hurt a child but right now, she was willing to make an exception.

Moegi and Udon screamed when Konohamaru was sent flying into the wall beside them.

Sakura brushed her hands together and walked off. "Did you see her forehead? It was huuuuge! I mean, what is that?"

Sakura froze. Naruto froze. The Konohamaru Ninja Squad froze.

The academy students and Naruto watched as Sakura's head did a 180. The facial expression was that of a monster out for blood. Sakura then turned her body.

 _Might as well start some training... Let's play ninja. You, try not to die._

She ran at them at full speed and they all ran away from her. They turned around a corner and when she did, she saw Konohamaru on the floor with some guy, with purple face paint on, standing over him.

"What's this?" The boy said. "You got a problem?"

"What...?" Sakura trailed off when she saw their headbands. _Sand shinobi? What are they doing here?_

She stopped thinking once the boy grabbed Konohamaru by his shirt. "Runts like you piss me off." The sand shinobi said.

"Hey, let go of him!" Naruto shouted, running at him. Suddenly, Naruto tripped, dropping onto the floor. "...What?"

Sakura knew that the purple face guy probably did something. She wasn't sure what, but he did something to make Naruto fall.

"Stop. You know what will happen if you do anything." A girl next to purple face said.

"This was my fault. I'm sorry. Please let him go." Sakura said, stepping in front of Udon and Moegi, who were scared for their friend.

"Your turn later, sweet cheeks." He winked at her.

 _Kill him! Kill him now!_

Sakura turned red and she clutched her fist. Before she could charge at the disgrace of a man, a stone hit his arm, forcing him to drop Konohamaru.

Everyone turned to see who threw it. Sasuke was sitting on a tree branch, throwing a stone up into the air and then catching it, repeating it over and over again.

"You shouldn't make a scene in someone else's village." Sasuke said. Moegi squealed and the girl next to purple face blushed. Sakura didn't know how to react. Personally, she wanted to beat the crap out of the guy and Sasuke had interrupted them.

"Kankuro!" The sand girl shouted. Kankuro reached for some object wrapped in bandages around his back and took it off. "You're not really going to use "The Crow", are you?"

"Kankuro." A calm voice said. On the other side of the tree, someone was standing upside down on the branch. "Stop making a fool of our village. " The red-head said. "Or I'll kill you."

Sakura looked at Sasuke who looked shocked. He was staring at the new shinobi as if he were an alien.

The new person turned into sand and materialised next to the other sand ninja. They began walking away. "Wait." Sakura said, moving forward. "You're from the sand village."

"Perceptive?" The girl said in a tired voice, turning around. Sakura scowled at her.

"I'm going to need to see a permit. You're not allowed in this village without one."

The girl produced one from her pockets. "We're here for the chunin exams. Do you leaf genin not know that? Typical."

"Yeah, you sand genin are sooooo much better because you know the date of the exams." Sakura remarked sarcastically. This bitch was getting on her last nerve.

"What did you say?" Both girls were ready to attack each other.

"You. What's your name?" Sasuke randomly asked.

"I'm Temari. What's yours?" She asked him, blushing.

"Not yours. The one with the gourd on his back." Sasuke said, to Temari's dismay.

"I am Gaara of the Sand. I, too, am interested in knowing your name." His voice freaked Sakura out.

"Sasuke Uchiha." The raven-haired boy replied.

"Do you want to know my name?" Naruto asked, a tad desperate.

"I couldn't care less about your name." Gaara then walked off. Kankuro followed but Temari stood in place.

"You," She pointed at Sakura. "What's your name?"

"Sakura Haruno."

"Temari-"

"I heard." Temari scowled and then turned around before joining the other two.

 _Chunin exams... There's no way I'm ready to become a chunin._

Meanwhile...

"My team consists of, genin, Sasuke Uchiha, genin, Naruto Uzumaki and, genin, Sakura Haruno. I, jonin, Kakashi Hatake, nominate all three of my students for the chunin exams."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 3**

"Rookies in the chunin exams..."

"How long has it been?"

"They'll get crushed!"

After Asuma, Kurenai and Kakashi had nominated their students, whispers broke out through the Third Hokage's large room.

"You can't honestly be thinking about letting Sakura into the chunin exams after what happened." Iruka said to Kakashi. "And the same goes for Naruto."

Most jonin know about what happened to Sakura on her mission. Much like some people knew about Naruto, they had been told about Sakura.

"I think- I know- they're ready." The silver-haired man replied. "Plus, it is up to them if they would like to take part in the exams."

"They're not ready-" Iruka started.

"No matter what you think, I will not change my decision. You need to get the fact that they're not your students anymore." Kakashi said as if he were speaking to a child.

Iruka's jaw clenched. The jonin was right. They weren't his students. But at one point, they were. Iruka has known them for years. Much longer than Kakashi had known them.

"Then, I'll propose this..."

"Itadakimasu!" Mebuki exclaimed.

"Itadakimasu!" Kizashi exclaimed.

"Itadakimasu..." Sakura sighed.

The family of three began eating. Sakura's mother had been making sure, for the passed week, that Sakura is okay. It was annoying... But Sakura kinda liked it. It was a good annoying.

"I heard the chunin exams are going to start soon." Sakura said, taking a bite of rice.

"Really?" Mebuki questioned. "Are you going to take part?"

Sakura didn't miss the concern in her mother's voice. Not knowing how to answer, Sakura shrugged.

"I remember when I took the exams. Well, the three times I took part in the exams." Kizashi laughed.

"At least you didn't have to take it four times like me." Mebuki joined in.

 _I'm probably going to have to take it five times..._

"What is the chunin exams about?" Sakura asked. Well, if she didn't wan mt to take part, if Sasuke and Naruto did, she could help them out.

"The exams are split into three parts. First is a written exam, second is a survival exam in the Forest of Death," _Forest of the what now?_ "And then it's the final one-on-one matches that determine if you are going to become chunin or not." Kizashi explained. "Rarely, there are prelimary matches between the second and third parts if too many people passed. But, as I said, it's rare."

"The chunin exams were insanely annoying." Sakura's mother said. "So many people from other villages would judge you, make you feel inferior or stare you to death." Mebuki angrily shoved some food into her mouth.

"Remember that man? Um... His name was... Um... I think it started with a B..." Kizashi looked at the ceiling, a hand under his chin.

"Babi?" Mebuki questioned.

"Yeah!" The man shouted but then he frowned. "No..." He stared up at the ceiling again. "Anyway," Kizashi continued eating. After swallowing some food, he continued. "He was insanely strong but incredibly violent. I remember stabbing him with a kunai multiple times but he didn't feel it at all. No blood, he didn't even flinch."

"Wow..." Sakura said. _People like that are at the chunin exams?!_

But I'm much cooler!" Her father exclaimed. "I know three nature releases! Wind, lightning and earth."

"A lot of jonin know multiple nature releases." Mebuki pointed out with a sly smile. Kizashi replied by angrily slurping some soup.

 _I don't even know one..._ Sakura thought. _Well, I am a genin. I could try and learn one... Maybe Kakashi-sensei will help me. You know, if he isn't already training Naruto and Sasuke._

"Remember our first year being genin, Sensei didn't nominate us." Mebuki said.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. _Nominate?_

"Your team leader has to nominate you so you can take part in the exams. It doesn't matter if you want to, it's up to your Sensei." Kizashi explained. "So, if Kakashi thinks your ready then he'll nominate you. But rookies aren't usually nominated."

 _We haven't been genin for long. Kakashi-sensei wouldn't nominate us so soon_ _, would he?_

"Sakura, where are you going?" Said girl's mother asked. The family had finished their lunch and Sakura ran into her room to get ready.

"Training." Sakura replied, opening the door.

"Be careful please." Sakura rolled her eyes again.

 _Punching the same tree over and over again is hardly called training..._ Sakura angrily kicked the tree. _That's basically the same thing._

"I want to learn a new jutsu!" Sakura shouted, slamming her head, hard, into the tree. "Ow..."

"Why don't you just learn one then?" Sakura turned around and saw Sasuke staring at her.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked. Sasuke didn't reply. He just walked into the woods, ignoring the pinkette.

Sakura slid down the tree and sat cross-legged on the ground. "I guess I'll have to ask Kakashi. If I can even find him..."

The day passed and there was no sign of the masked jonin. Sakura slumped home. _I didn't even get any training done. I'll ask him tomorrow though. We're meeting at the bridge as per ushe._

 **"Sakura-chan..."**

Sakura turned around. "Who's there?" She asked to the dark street. Nothing moved and everything was silent. The shops on the side were closed and there was not a soul in sight. "I'm going crazy..." She sighed, continuing her walk home.

"Sakura-chan!" The next day, Sakura walked to the bridge to find Naruto already waiting. "Morning!" The blond shouted.

"Morning, Naruto." Sakura smiled, leaning onto the railing.

"Are you going to take part in the chunin exams?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know. Plus, it's up to Kakashi-sensei. He decides if we're ready." Sakura said.

"What?! He better nominate us! I am **sooo** ready!" Fire started burning in Naruto's eyes as he pictured Kankuro, Gaara and Sasuke all on the floor while he was smiling triumphantly above them.

 _How does he have so much energy in the morning?_ Sakura asked herself.

Sakura was too busy wondering about Naruto's energy to notice that Sasuke had joined them, waiting for their sensei.

An hour later, Kakashi appeared infront of them. "Sorry, I'm late. A black cat-"

"LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura shouted.

"Well, training is off today." The silver-haired man said. His three genin sweat-dropped. "I have these for you."

Kakashi handed his students a slip of paper each. It contained their names and all of their information. "These are your entrance slips to the chunin exams."

"Really?!" Naruto exclaimed, a twinkle in his eye.

"You should go to the academy if you would like to take part. The decision is up to you."

Kakashi left right after his words. Sakura scowled. _Does he have to leave like that? I wanted to talk to him about training..._

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all walked home. "Are you two going to enter?" Naruto asked.

"Obviously." Sasuke scoffed as if not entering was foolish.

Sakura didn't answer. She just stared at her paper, biting her lip.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. She looked up at him and shrugged with a smile. Naruto frowned. "Is everything okay, Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah." Sakura said. "Everything's fine."

Sakura sat at her balcony. A place where she could think. She never really sat here before. It was just outside of her room but she never stepped foot on it.

"Chunin exams..." Sakura mumbled. "Naruto and Sasuke-kun are entering... I don't want to be left behind... But I'm not ready."

She let out a frustrated groan. "I should just quit being a ninja..."

 **"No!"**

"Ah!" Sakura screamed. She looked around her surroundings but no one was there. She looked onto the ground below the balcony but no one was in sight. "...What?"

Sakura didn't know where the voice came from. She was getting scared. She heard this voice all the time. Was there someone following her?

Sakura sighed again. _If I was a good ninja, I would've figured this out._

"Sakura." A voice behind her called. Sakura whipped her head around and looked down to find Sasuke staring up at her.

"S-Sasuke-kun." Sakura stuttered.

"Let's go for a walk." Sasuke said, leaning on a wall.

Sakura frowned. _Who's this?_ She asked herself. _Might as well follow him anyway._

"Okay!" Sakura pretended to be excited.

She followed Sasuke but he didn't utter a word until he got to the third training ground. It was foggy but Sakura could see clearly enough to know where she was going.

"The chunin exams are going to be tough." Sasuke said.

"...Yeah." Sakura replied.

"You shouldn't take the exams." Sakura realised everything. _Whoever this is, they don't want me to take part in the exams._

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"You're not strong enough. The chunin exams is a gathering of the top dogs of each village." Sasuke said. "You'll get hurt."

 _If only the real Sasuke cared enough to say this, I might actually not take the exams. ...Did I just say I was going to take the exams?_

"I know." Sakura sighed. "But if you are saying this to me... You must care about me!" Sakura smiled brightly.

"Well, yeah... Kind of..." The fake Uchiha blushed. Sakura inwardly rolled her eyes.

"Well, lookey here..." A voice near the training ground's stumps said. The fog slowly cleared to reveal a shinobi. He covered himself with a black cloak and by his belt was an umbrella.

 _Rain ninja..._ Sakura gathered from his headband and umbrella. _But..._ She smirked on the inside.

"Such a display of affection, eh?" The rain ninja continued.

"Get lost if you don't want to die." Sasuke glared at him.

"Such big words for a puny, little brat."

Sasuke charged at the man, kunai in hand but all the ninja did was throw his umbrella up in the air.

The umbrella opened and multiple kunai shot out of it. Sasuke tried blocking as many as he could but there were too many.

He was hit by tens of kunai and his bloody body dropped onto the ground.

"What kind of amateur genjutsu is this?" Sakura asked the man, yawning.

"What do you mean, girl?"

"It was obvious Sasuke was a genjutsu. One, asking me out on a walk is nothing he will ever do. And two, as if the ice block cares about me." Sakura explained. "Plus, you're a genjutsu too. Where are you? Too much of a coward to fight me?" She taunted.

"Are you sure I'm a genjutsu?" He readied his umbrella and Sakura nodded.

The rain shinobi threw his umbrella at Sakura. The cherry blossom simply walked straight through it.

Sakura placed her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. The ninja grunted and fled.

Little did Sakura know, there was a certain 'block of ice' watching her from the forest. The Uchiha watched as she raised her fist into the air.

"BRING ON THE CHUNIN EXAMS!" Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs.

A smirk found it's way to Sasuke's lips. Even though he sounded like a stalker, watching her like this was amusing.

Plus, she handled her test very well.

Of course Sasuke knew it was a test. From who, he didn't know. Probably Kakashi.

Sakura ran out of the training grounds and to the library. The meet for the exams was tomorrow and if she really wanted to learn a new jutsu, she would have to work well into the night.

 _Anything to help... Anything to help..._

A scroll was left on the table. Sakura unrolled it and read the title out loud. "Scroll of Earth Release." She said and then she scanned it's contents.

At the exit of the library, a certain silver-haired jonin had pat himself on the back. Good thing he left that scroll there for her...

Kakashi went on the roof of his apartment building. As soon as he took his disgrace of a book out, the rain ninja appeared.

"You were right." He transformed back into Iruka. "They're ready."

"Even if they lost in the first exam, they'll know how tough it is to become a chunin. Losing the exams will give them enough of a boost to continue training."

"But why Sakura?" Iruka asked. "After what happened to her, she should not be taking part in the exams? What if the seal breaks? She, no, the Gobi, could destroy the entire village."

"Sakura will have my head if I don't let her take part." Kakashi said.

"What?"

"She doesn't want to be left behind Naruto and Sasuke. Excluding the actual exams, this is her test to find out where she stands as a ninja and a member of team seven."

Iruka frowned. _She could still go berserk and kill every one of us._ "Okay." The academy teacher said. There was no use in fighting anymore. Everyone in team seven was obviously too stubborn to listen to reason.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 4**

Kakashi walked through the silent, grey hallway. On his left, prisoners were caged, chained and gagged. Anyone who had done Konoha wrong was in those rooms.

Yes. He was in the Konoha Prison.

Two Anbu Black Ops ninja followed him as he slowly walked to the third last cell.

"Are you going to talk today?" Kakashi asked the dark-skinned man who was kneeling on the ground.

His eyes were covered and he was bound with a sealing scroll. An empty bowl was to his left.

 _Guess they forced him to eat._ Kakashi thought.

"I will never betray the stone village!" The man shouted.

Kakashi sighed. He nodded to the Anbu on his right. The Assasin produced a scroll from her pouch, handing it to Kakashi.

Screams of the stone shinobi were heard through the silent, grey hall...

"I'm so excited!"

"We're so totally going to pass!"

"Why do the leaf always host the exams?"

"Where is Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked Sasuke. "Is she really not going to enter?"

Naruto didn't expect Sasuke to answer but, to his surprise, the Uchiha said "She'll be here."

"I hope so!" Naruto said. "She needs to be here to see my amazing skills!"

"Sorry I'm late." Sakura walked up to her fellow teammates. She was looking down as she greeted them.

"Let's go!" Naruto exclaimed.

 _What's with her?_ Sasuke thought. _She was excited yesterday..._

 _Why did I want to come here again?_ Sakura asked herself.

Team seven walked into the building side-by-side.

"We have to go to the third floor..." Naruto said, looking down at his entrance slip.

"You're going to enter the chunin exams with that skill?" Two men were standing infront of the door with the sign "301" on top of it.

In front of them, a boy in green spandex was sitting on the ground, face bruised and beaten.

"Please let us through." A brunette girl with two buns said. The man with bandades on his chin responded by landing a punch on her cheek.

"We're doing you a favor." The other man said. "The chunin exams are rough. You green-horn ninja shouldn't be here."

"Would you stop the genjutsu barrier? I have business on the eighth floor." Sasuke said, walking forward. Naruto and Sakura followed him.

"What's he talking about?"

"This is the third floor."

The genin behind them were murmuring, obviously, not seeing the genjutsu.

"So, you noticed, eh?"

"How about it, Sakura? You should've noticed right away." Sasuke said.

 _...Oh, wait. Is he talking to me?_

"...Huh?" Sakura asked.

"Your anylitic sense and genjutsu know-how has improved the most in our squad."

 _Is he smiling at me?!_

"T-thank you." Sakura couldn't help the words from leaving her mouth. "Of course! I noticed it ages ago! We need to go to the third floor but we're only on the second floor."

The genjutsu was undone and the sigh saying "301" changed into "201".

"So you figured that out quickly but..." The man with the bandades charged at Sasuke. Both boys got ready to land their attacks but they were stopped by the previous boy in green spandex.

 _He's fast..._ Sakura thought.

 _What's with all the chakra in his hand? And where are his bruises from before? Was he faking?_ Sasuke asked himself.

 _I wonder if they'll give us ramen for lunch..._ Naruto started drooling.

"Hey, what happened?" A white-eyed man walked towards the boy. "You're the one who said to lay low and not draw attention to ourselves."

"I know. ...But..." Spandex blushed and looked at Sakura.

"Oh, brother..." Two buns put her hand to her forehead.

The boy walked to Sakura. "My name is Rock Lee! You are Sakura, correct?"

"...Yeah." _Wow, he has some thick eyebrows._

"Please be my girlfriend! I will protect you until the day I die!" Lee put a thumbs up and smiled. His teeth made a 'ping' sound.

"Aboslutely... Not." Sakura said, looking sick.

"...Why?" Lee turned blue.

"You're... too intense."

The others watched the strange encounter until the white-eyed man walked over to Sasuke. "You, what's your name?"

 _Again?!_ Naruto screamed in his head, snapping out of his ramen thoughts.

"Usually, when asking for someone's name, you give your own first." Sasuke responded.

"Funny. How old are you?"

"I'm not obliged to answer."

Two buns giggled and Sakura narrowed her eyes at the woman.

Sasuke turned around, ready to walk off.

"Intense, huh?" Lee mumbled, looking forlorn.

"Uninterested, huh?" Naruto mumbled, copying Lee.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto let's go!" Sakura exclaimed. Team seven walked off to the third floor, ready for the chunin exams.

After walking for a bit, they were stopped by Lee.

"My name is Rock Lee!" He shouted. "I gave my name first. It is now your turn. But, I know your name, Sasuke Uchiha." Lee pointed at the raven-hairef boy.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked in a bored tone.

"Please spar with me." Lee got into his stance. "I am the strongest of all leaf genin. I would like to test my strength with the Uchiha survivor. And..." The thick-browed boy looked at Sakura blushing.

 _Why is he looking at me like that?_ Sakura shivered.

"Sakura... Love!"

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" Sakura screamed, not noticing the look Sasuke was giving Lee. _Those lower eyelashes are awful! And his thick eyebrows!_ _The hair is so intens_ e _! Everything is!_ Sakura shivered once more.

"You're an angel!" Lee blew a kiss at her. A heart made it's way to Sakura.

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Sakura screamed again, dodging the heart.

"You are good. But can you dodge this?" He blew multiple more kisses at her.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" Sakura avoided all of them, bumping her head on the ground while dodging the last one. "Don't throw strange stuff!" Sakura yelled at the lovestruck boy.

"You don't have to resent me that much." He frowned.

"Let's fight." Sasuke said, glaring at Lee.

"W-what?" Sakura asked.

Before anyone, Naruto and Sakura, could comprehend what was happening, Sasuke and Lee charged at each other.

The fight went on and Sasuke seemed to be on the losing side.

Sakura gasped at Sasuke's eyes turned red. _The sharingan? Since when...?_

Even with his bloodline activated, Sasuke couldn't seem to beat Lee.

"Frustrating, isn't it?" Lee asked. "Your sharingan isn't helping you. Do you know why?" He didn't wait for a response. "Because my techinique is neither ninjutsu nor genjutsu. Just taijutsu."

 _That's some good taijutsu then..._ Sakura thought, amazed by Lee's skill.

The boys continued their fight but, suddenly, Lee disappeared. He reappeared and kicked up at Sasuke's chin. The Uchiha went flying into the air and the taijutsu user jumped up beside him.

Undoing his bandages, Lee was ready to wrap them around Sasuke but a pink shuriken hit one, pinning it to the wall.

"Shit..." Lee muttered, landing back down onto the ground.

 _Sasuke-kun!_ Sakura ran to catch the falling boy.

Lee bowed by a turtle and they seemed to be having a conversation.

"Sasuke-teme, Sakura-chan!" Naruto ran up to them. "I think that's his sensei."

"What?" Sakura asked, looking at Lee and the turtle. "It can't be."

A flash of white appeared above the turtle and a man, who looked very similar to Lee, stood there, posing.

 _Oh. My. God._

"Bushier eyebrows!" Naruto and Sakura screamed while Sasuke looked sick.

"How dare you?! Guy-sensei is the most fashionable sensei there is!" Lee shouted at them.

"Lee. Stop." Guy said. "We need to talk about your punishment."

The two continued talking as the dazed team seven looked on with wonder.

Then, Guy punched Lee. Hard.

"AHHHH!!" Naruto and Sakura screamed while Sasuke looked sick. Again.

"Guy-sensei..." Lee looked at his teacher, tears in his eyes.

"Lee..." His teacher looked at his student, tears in his eyes as well.

The tears then started pouring down there cheeks as they hugged.

"AHHH-" Sakura stopped screaming when she realized Naruto wasn't copying her.

"That's kinda cute, if you think about it." Sakura slapped her blond teammate.

 _Wait a minute... Guy? The man with Kakashi-sensei when-_

Sakura's thoughts stopped when she felt an unimaginable amount of pain coming from her stomach.

"Argh!" She groaned, clutching her stomach, dropping to the floor on her knees.

 **"Sakura-chan..."**

"Sakura-chan! Are you okay?" Naruto asked his friend. He grabbed her arm to help her up but then pulled back. "You've gone really hot again..." Naruto frowned at his teammate.

 _Did someone turn on the heating or something...?_

Sasuke put his hand on her forehead. "You're burning up." He touched her neck. "Everywhere."

"I just need some water." Sakura said, coughing after. Sasuke reached into his pouch and handed her a bottle filled with water. "Thanks."

Guy looked at her. _No doubt about it... It's the Gobi._

Sakura sat cross-legged on the ground. "It's really weird, Sakura-chan." Naruto said to her.

"What is?" She asked, taking another gulp of water.

"How you were burning up when you woke up in the hospital and now you're burning up here. It seems to be happening after you returned from your mission with your dad." Naruto explained.

Sakura froze. She knew this had something to do with the Gobi but she didn't want Sasuke or Naruto to know. She didn't want them to know that some... demon was inside of her.

"Y-yeah. That is weird." Sakura stuttered. Naruto laughed, not noticing Sakura's unease. Sasuke did though.

 _She's hiding something..._ Sasuke thought. _...And I'm going to find out what._

"So you three are Kakashi's students!" Lee's sensei said. Guy walked over to them. "So how is my eternal rival these days?"

"You saw him like a week ago." Sakura said without thinking. Her eyes widened a second after she said it.

"Sakura-chan, do you know him?" Naruto asked the pink-haired girl.

"Um... Yeah. Remember the mission with my dad. Well, Guy-sensei and Kakashi sensei were the ones who saved me." Sakura said, smiling. _It's the truth so I'm not lying._

 _Saved her?_ _What happened on that mission?_ Sasuke asked himself. _Kakashi would know._

Sasuke didn't look into what happened to Sakura on her mission. He just thought something like she was attacked by a wild animal. _Her dad would've saved her from that, why did two other jonins get involved?_

"Wait, you and Kakashi-sensei are rivals?! There's no way you guys have the same strength!" Naruto exclaimed.

"You are correct." Guy disappeared. He reappeared behind team seven. "Our rivalry score is 50 - 49 to me. Which means I am stronger than Kakashi."

"What?!" Naruto yelled.

 _There's no way..._ Sakura thought.

"Anyway," Guy walked back to Lee. "Just so you never do this again, Lee, I'm going to need you to do 500 laps around the academy."

"Yes, Sensei!" Lee shouted, already jogging on the spot.

"What about the chunin exams?" Sakura asked them.

"That's right." Guy said. "And you even interrupted an important event like the chunin exams! 1000 laps!"

"Yes, Sensei!" Lee began running.

 _Their crazy..._ All the members of team seven, including Sasuke, thought.

"We're going to be late." Sakura said, looking at the clock on the far wall. The boys nodded and the three genin walked towards room 301.

When walking to the room, they saw Kakashi leaning up against the wall, perveted book in hand.

"The three of you came." The jonin said.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The blond shouted. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to explain a few things to you. Oh, and if the three of you weren't here, I would've sent you back." He closed his book, dropping his arm to his side.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"The chunin exams are only allowed to be taken in three-man teams." Kakashi said.

"Why didn't you tell is that?!" Naruto screeched.

"Because, if I did, you and Sasuke probably would've pressured Sakura into entering."

 _Sasuke-kun and Naruto wouldn't do that. ...Would they?_ Sakura thought.

 _That is true..._ Sasuke and Naruto thought.

"Because I didn't tell you, the three of you are here because you want to be here." The silver-haired man smiled. "Once you enter that door," He pointed to the large door behind him. "You've entered the chunin exams. Make me proud."

"We will, Kakashi-sensei!" Of course, Naruto was the only obe who responded. Sakura was thinking about letting everyone down and Sasuke was being his usual anti-social self.

"I'll see you guys later." Kakashi walked away from them.

"...Let's go." Sasuke said, walking forward.

They opened the door and were met with a horrible sight: Multiple sour-looking genin.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

 **Chapter 5**

"Why are they all staring at us?" Sakura asked her teammates, looking around the classroom, at the multiple genin from different villages, who were scowling at them.

Sakura looked at their headbands. _Sand, rain, grass... Why is there a music note on that one?_ Sakura didn't realise she was staring until the man, wearing the headband with the music note, flashed her a smile. He had spiky, black hair and dark eyes. He wore a beige shirt with two black stripes.

Blushing slightly at being caught, Sakura looked away.

"We're leaf ninja." Sasuke said. "We're hosting the exams. They're probably jealous that it would give us some sort of advantage even though it won't."

 _Never heard Sasuke-kun say so much before..._ Sakura thought. _...Is he nervous?_

"Sasuke-kun!" A squeal was heard.

Sakura watched as Ino hugged Sasuke tightly from behind.

"Get off!" Sasuke growled. Ino let go, giggling.

"You're here too? This is so troublesome..." Shikamaru and Chouji walked up to their teammate and team seven.

"Looks like all the rookies are taking part." Kiba also joined in, Hinata and Shino following him from behind as well as Akamaru who was on top of Kiba's head. "How far can we go? Eh, Sasuke?"

The Uchiha smirked. "You're mighty confident, Kiba."

"I've trained a great deal... I won't lose to you." The dog-lover sounded extremely sure of himself.

 _So Kiba and Sasuke are the only strongs ones?_ Sakura inwardly scowled.

"Forehead, you sure you should be here?" Ino mocked her ex best friend.

Sakura looked at the pig for a second before turning away, slightly flipping her hair in the process.

Ino was ready to tackle her, but a random man, who had approached them, spoke.

"You rookies should really keep it down." The silver-haired ninja said.

"And why's that?" Shikamaru asked, speaking in his usual bored tone.

"You're attracting more attention than you already had." Their gazes averted to the crowd of genin, still scowling at them. "It's normal for ninja from different villages to not like the host of the exams. I speak from expierience."

"So you've taken the exams before?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, this is my seventh time." Several gasps were heard. "This is my fourth year. I'm Kabuto, by the way."

"You must not be very strong to fail six times..." Ino said, not caring about how rude she sounded.

 _We were all thinking it..._ Sakura thought. _Having to take the exams seven times? Isn't that a bit too much?_

"Yeah, but taking the exams multiple times has let me gather information." Kabuto brought a pack of cards from out of his pouch.

"Are we going to play daifugo?" Kiba asked, sarcastically.

"These are ninja info cards." Kabuto said, ignoring Kiba. "Any sort of information I've gathered through my expieriences as a ninja, I've recorded into these."

Kabuto bent down, picking the top card off of the deck. "I've got about 200 of these cards. They're plain white to anyone's eye." Kabuto eyed Hinata, who looked away. Placing a finger on top of his chosen card, it swirled on the ground. In a poof, the card turned from plain white into a map.

"Awesome!" Naruto remarked.

"What's that?" Sakura asked.

"The participating nations and the amount of test takers." Kabuto explained. "It also shows the amount of test takers in each individual village."

"Do these card show information on individual ninja?" Sasuke asked. As the two spoke about two ninja, Rock Lee and Gaara of the Sand, Sakura stared at the ground.

No one noticed, which she was thankful for.

The cherry blossom was terrified. This man had so much information about these exams that it seemed so unfair. Were there others who had taken the exams seven times? How expeirienced were they? It was all so unfair!

 _Nothing's fair in the ninja world..._ Sakura told herself. _Maybe I should've waited to take these exams..._

 _But Sasuke-kun and Naruto..._ She looked at her teammates who were staring at a particular card. Sakura saw that it was Gaara's card.

Kabuto showed the map card again. "All of these nations sent their top genin to compete in these exams. Well, as for the village hidden in the sound, it sprang up in recent years, so they're all a bunch of crackerjacks."

"In other words," Sakura began. "We're just rookies, new to being ninja but people like Lee and Gaara..."

"Yes... Not just Lee and Gaara, but all the people here are choice elite genin from their respective villages."

Outside of the classroom, Kakashi wondered what his team was feeling.

 _Knowing Sakura, she's probably second guessing herself._

The jonin couldn't quite guess Naruto and Sasuke's feelings though. He was wondering if the fearless ones were feeling frightened.

"M-makes you feel less confident in yourself..." Hinata said out loud, not actually meaning to.

"Why would you go and say that?!" Ino shouted.

Sakura ignored the blonde. Her attention was focused on the boy in front of her.

No, not Sasuke. Naruto.

He was trembling. His hands were clenched to his sides and his head was down.

 _I've never seen him like this. Maybe I should try to cheer him up..._

She tapped his shoulder and leaned into his ear. "Naruto... Let's do our best. Yes, it's a bit scary but-"

She couldn't say anymore because the boy pointed at the other genin and shouted:

"I'M GOING TO PASS THESE EXAMS AND KICK ALL OF YOUR BUTTS! BELIEVE IT!"

 _Fool..._ Sasuke smirked.

 _I actually thought he was scared..._ Sakura frowned but a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. _...This is so like him._

"Forehead, control your teammate!" Ino yelled at the pink-haired kunoichi.

"Leave him alone and let him do what he wants, pig!" Sakura yelled back.

The girls were ready for a verbal fight but a commotion to the side of them stopped them.

Kabuto had dodged an attack from a sound ninja. Then, he doubled over in pain, coughing up blood.

 _But he dodged it, didn't he?_ Sakura was confused. The sound ninja, she now knew the symbol because of Kabuto, attacked him, and he dodged. Why was he hurt?

"There's no fighting allowed in here!" A voice barked from the door.

A tall man with a scar marked on his face was standing there, arms crossed with a disappointed expression upon his face. Behind him, other leaf ninja stood, all wearing grey.

"I'm sorry, Sir. Just got a little excited. It's my first time taking the exams so I flipped out... Despite myself." The sound ninja slowly walked to his teammates.

"I'll say this once. No fighting will be permitted without the permission of your proctors. And even if you get permission, any actionals that will kill your opponent are strictly forbidden on these exams." Ibiki sent a hard glare to the sound ninja from before. "Any pig that screws with me will be disqualified. Got it?!"

No one answered and the proctor walked to the front of the classroom. "We will now begin the first test of the chunin exams. I am your first proctor, Ibiki Morino." His eyes glared at the genin. "Turn in your applicatuons. Pick a number. Take your seat. We'll begin the written exam."

The man placed a box filled with paper on his desk. It contained numbers written on the slips of paper. Next to it, he placed the test papers.

 _Shit..._ Sakura thought. _I completely forgot to tell Naruto and Sasuke about the written exam!_

"Written exam...?" Sakura watched Naruto grab his hair and pull hard. "What?! I'm going to fail on the first test!"

"Quiet!" Ibiki growled.

All of the genin were seated with their test sheets placed face down infront of them. Sakura could see Sasuke and Naruto infront of her.

The raven-haired Uchiha was calmly sitting, twirling the finger in his hand. He was acting as if he wasn't nervous at all.

The blond, however, was stressing. He was banging his head on the desk multiple times.

 _There's no way I'm going to pass this!_

"...N-Naruto-kun..." His head snapped to his right where Hinata was sitting, and furiously blushing.

"Oh, Hinata-chan..."

Said girl would've fainted right there. In all of her years at the academy, he had never said her name.

"Um... Ah..." She couldn't speak. But she had to say something. "...Let's do our best."

"Yeah, Hinata-chan!" The boy, whom she admired, grinned widely, forgetting about his earlier head-banging and the reason why.

Still smiling, Naruto looked at the sheet infront of him and frowned.

 _Wait... How can I do my best when I'm doing a written exam?!_

Sakura wasn't worried. She had done well on her written tests in the academy, second highest results. Sasuke being at the top, as usual.

"There are several rules to the written test." Ibiki said. "I will not take questions so listen well accordingly."

 _I'm guessing he's not a teacher..._

"Rule number one: You will each be given ten points. You have ten problems on your paper. Each problem is worth one point. This test will work on a point deduction system. You are deducted one point for each question you get wrong. If you get three questions wrong, you'll have seven points."

 _If I get ten wrong, I'll have zero points..._ Naruto thought.

"Next rule: Pass or failure will be determined by the total points of your team."

Gasps were heard over the crowd of genin and they began talking, mainly to thenselves.

 _What?!_ Sakura inwardly screamed. _Okay, Okay... If Sasuke and I get full points then we'll be okay..._

"There's a perfectly good reason for this. There are sentinels around the room." Sakura looked at the people who followed Ibiki in. They were sitting, scattered around the room with a clip board in each of their hands.

"Each person that initiates an act of cheating or something similar, and is caught by a sentinel, they'll be deducted two points."

 _What...?_ Sakura frowned. _...We won't be disqualified?_

"If someone is caught cheating five times, that person and their team will be disqualified. In other words, there may be people who are dismissed during the test, before test grading."

 _So, they're deducting points for things other than the test._ Sakura concluded. _Anyone who does any awkward cheating will bring ruin upon themselves._

"Chunin should act like exemplary shinibi."

 _Relax, Sakura... Everything will be okay. Naruto aside, Sasuke and I can pass this for the three of us._

"And, if anyone gets zero, that person and their team will fail."

 _What?!_ Sasuke choked.

 _What did he say?!_ Sakura paled.

The smart members of team seven glared at Naruto's back. _You better not fail._ Both of them thought.

 _I feel two menacing stares..._ Naruto shivered.

"By the way, the last question will be given forty five minutes after the start of the test."

... _Why?_ Sakura thought. _Why not just give all of the questions at the start?_

"You have one hour." Ibiki said. His gaze went off of the genin and at the clock on his left, on the wall.

He was waiting for the long hand to get to the twelve.

It felt like forever. People were sweating, stressing, or being like Sasuke and pretending they weren't nervous.

Finally, the long hand got to the twelve.

"Begin!"

Everyone's sheets were flipped over. Sakura frowned when scanning over the questions.

 _What the fuck is this?!_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N I am so sorry for taking so long to update this fanfiction. To be honest, I completely forgot about it.**

 **-Time skip since nothing really different happens.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 6**

Sakura felt her knees wobbling. She felt her arms aching and sweatdrops ran down her face. Currently, Team Seven was racing through the Forest of Death after passing the written exam, which Sasuke and Sakura thought wouldn't happen considering their dim-witted dobe of a teammate.

The rookies were given a heaven scroll and were required to find an earth scroll. The task was much harder than it seemed and it already seemed extremely difficult.

 _This place is disgusting, freaky and every other negative word I can't think of right now._ Sakura thought as she jumped from branch to branch, behind Sasuke and Naruto.

The skyscrapers of wood around the team made it very hard to know where they were going even though they simply had to get to the tower in the middle of the forest within three days with both scrolls, of course. Also, the trees could hide dangers; their fellow shinobi, wild animals and every other bad thing on the planet.

"So, are we not going to talk about how we're going to get the other scroll?" Sakura asked her team. She was sure not to say the scroll they had, just in case someone overheard.

Sasuke stopped on a branch and jumped to the floor. Sakura and Naruto followed after him.

"We should come up with a password." The raven-haired ninja said once his two teammates landed onto the floor.

Sakura understood why but she held back a scowl. _That's not really discussing how to get the other scroll._

"How about 'Apple'?" Naruto suggested. At first, Sakura thought he was joking but after looking at his face, he was dead serious.

"We'll keep thinking but that's a great plan B." Sakura lied.

"Okay, well, I gotta pee." Naruto annouced, breaking away from the group.

"I did not need to know that!" Salira shrieked but clamped her hand over her mouth, looking to the left and to the right.

Seconds, which felt like minutes, passed. The two genin who were waiting for their teammate stood in silence. Well, at least until the anti-social Uchiha decided to break it.

"What happened to you on your mission to the Land of Earth?" He asked, out of the blue.

The cherry blossom was a bit taken aback. It was quite a random question to be asked in the Forest of Death.

 _Is this his idea of small talk or something?_ The pinkette wondered.

"Uhh... I was taken by some ninja." Sakura answered, obviously leaving out many details. _Oh, and I'm the host to the fifth tailed beast._

"But why did Kakashi and Guy have to save you?" Sasuke asked.

"Th- there were a lot of-" Sakura began.

"You're hiding something." Sasuke concluded from her behaviour. The conversation didn't carry on, however.

"Sorry I took so long." Naruto said, walking towards Sasuke and Sakura and interrupting the worst conversation of Sakura's life.

 _I could kiss you right now, Naruto! ...Not that I actually would._

"So, a password?" Sakura asked, attempting to change the topic but no answer came because Sasuke had flung a shuriken towards their blond friend.

Naruto jumped to his right, dodging the ninja tool. "What the hell was that for?!" He yelled.

"Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Look at his cheek." Sasuke said. Sakura's eyes assessed their teammates face and then, she realised it.

"The scratch..." She murmured before she pulled out a kunai.

"And his shuriken holster is on his left leg. Naruto's right-handed."

"Then, where's-"

"You find Naruto." Sasuke said.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"I'll handle this. Find Naruto." Sasuke ordered. With a sigh, Sakura ran in the direction Naruto left.

"Not so fast!" The fake Naruto threw multiple kunai at Sakura, who dodged them all, except one. The final kunai scratched her face so she matched with Naruto.

The fake Naruto transformed into a rain ninja and Sasuke was already charging at him.

"Water style-" The enemy ninja started.

"Not so fast!" Sasuke repeated the rain ninja's words from before and aimed to kick him in the stomach, which was blocked.

Meanwhile, Naruto was squirming and trying to break free of the ropes tied around him.

"Oi!" He heard a shout and turned to where the voice was coming from. He saw his favourite teammate running towards him.

"Sakura!" He exclaimed in delight.

His teammate smiled, which was off putting.

"Uhh... Sakura, could you untie me? Pretty please?" Naruto asked, hoping that his suspicions about this not actually being Sakura were false.

The Fake Sakura held up a kunai and was ready to strike it down onto the blond but a punch to the face sent her flying.

The Real Sakura now stood above Naruto. "Apple." She said to Naruto. She turned towards Fake Sakura. "You can't be the ninja from before, so you must be his teammate."

Fake Sakura smiled again and disappeared in a poof.

 _Get Naruto out of here and hurry back to Sasuke._ The pinkette cut Naruto out of his ropes and the two ran back to Sasuke.

When they returned to where Sasuke was, only he was there. The other ninja was no where to be seen.

Sasuke was panting. Blood was splattered onto his face but he wasn't the one who was wounded.

"Where's the guy?" Sakura asked and walked to Sasuke, only to be stopped by Naruto grabbing onto her wrist. Naruto eyed Sasuke suspiciously, to which the Uchiha noticed.

"Apple..." Sasuke groaned while saying it.

"Okay!" Naruto said.

"He got away..." Sasuke said to Sakura.

"There was another." She replied. "Whoever it was, they disguised themself as me and attempted to kill Naruto. We didn't get to see who it was, they got away."

"We need a better password than 'Apple'." The Uchiha announced and Naruto scowled at him.

Sakura retrieved a cloth from her pack and attempted to clean off Sasuke's face.

"What are you doing?!" The anti-social ninja slapped Sakura's hand back.

"Oh, I just took this out to strangle you with obviously." The cherry blossom rolled her eyes. "Clean yourself up then." She threw the cloth at him.

"Hn." Sasuke replied.

"So..." Naruto said as the atmosphere had now turned awkward. "The password?"

Sasuke poured some water on the cloth Sakura had given him and began cleaning himself up.

"Here's the password. A teammate should ask the question 'When does a ninja strike?' and the person should reply..." The answer was long and complicated but Sakura was able to remember it. Naruto, on the other hand, was having trouble.

 _Why did Sasuke pick this as a password? Who can remember that?_ Naruto thought as his eyes wondered to Sakura, who's eyes were focused onto Sasuke.

"That's it." Sasuke announced, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Can you say it again?" Naruto asked. A look from Sasuke got him to shut up.

Sakura was repeating the information over and over again to remember. She was wondering why Sasuke had picked such a complex password.

 _Naruto will never be able to remember it._ The thought made Sakura worried for him. _We're lucky Sasuke could see the differences but what if the next person to disguise themself as Naruto looks exactly like him with no errors?_ _They may not know the password but what if Naruto doesn't remember it?_

"Naruto, if you don't remember-" Sakura started but something hit Naruto on the cheek without the scatch, making another scratch.

Team Seven looked at the direction where the object had come from. No one was there...

"What the-" A ferocious wind blew towards them.

"Argh!" Sakura didn't know who made the sound but she found herself flying back and she collided with a tree.

"Shit!" She growled as she dropped to the floor.

The wind stopped raging and Sakura stood up, shaking from head to toe.

 _What in the world was that?_ She asked herself and rubbed her back. _Whatever it was, it can't be good._

She looked around the forest that was now covered with leaves and branches on the ground, searching for her team. _They couldn't have gotten far._

She didn't even recognise where she was. _How can I when every goddamn tree looks the same?!_

She was about to scream her teammates' names out but she spotted Sasuke crouching by a bush.

"Sasuke!" She yelled when she saw him. Her feet moved on their own but stopped once Sasuke held a kunai up, ready to strike her.

"When does a ninja strike?" He said, glaring at the pinkette.

"Oh, of course-" Sakura said what she remembered from their discussion before, giving herself a mental pat on the back when she recalled all of it without error.

"Good." Sasuke said, lowering his kunai. "Where's Naruto?" He asked.

"I don't know..."

"Guys!" The loud voice of their teammate snapped their heads in his direction. Naruto ran at them, smiling widely. "There you are!"

"Naruto, wait." Sakura said. "When does a ninja strike?"

"Oh, I know this-" It surprised Sakura that he got it all right. What surprised her even more was Sasuke throwing shuriken at Naruto much like he did before.

The blond dodged it. "What are you doing?!" Naruto asked/yelled, his hand slowling inching towards his ninja tool pack.

"Sasuke!" Sakura scolded. "What was that for? He got it right."

"Exactly. You think Naruto could remember something like that?"

"Naruto isn't... stupid." Now Sakura felt stupid for saying that. She wasn't trying to be mean but it wasn't a secret that Naruto was the stupidest person in their team, even in the academy. "Shit." Sakura said, her eyes assessing the phony.

 _The person had transformed into Naruto perfectly. He had scratches and his pack was on his right leg. The person infront of them was exactly like Naruto_. Sakura thought.

"Well..." The Fake Naruto hissed, showing his tongue which looked that of a snake.

 _Scratch that_

"Sakura, find Naruto." Sasuke ordered to which Sakura glared at him.

 _Of course, make me do the easy thing again!_ She cursed at him in her head.

"Oh, I don't think you two are going anywhere..." The phony transformed into the grass ninja who had returned their proctor's kunai from when she threw the kunai at Naruto.

 _Why am I getting a weird feeling from her?_ Sakura narrowed her eyes at the grass nin. _Anyhow, I hope Naruto's okay._

Meanwhile with Naruto:

"Please, snake, don't eat me. I'll find you something else to eat. Their's probably a giant rat here or something. Or maybe you could just go on a diet."

Sakura had no idea how to react. This was a battle and all the three were doing was having a stare off.

"Sakura, move!" Sasuke shouted and he pushed her out of the way of a giant snake that tried to attack them.

"What the fuck-" Sakura started but she was interrupted.

The grass ninja was suddenly right beside her. "You're in the way, little girl." Sakura felt a punch to the gut and she doubled over in pain. The punch was followed by a kick that had sent the pinkette to crash into a tree for the second time that day.

Sasuke tried to land an attack on the woman but everything was either evaded, blocked or countered.

Forming the necessary hand signs, Sasuke successfully performed the **Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu**.

The ball of flames hit the grass ninja, surrounding her with flames. Nearby branches caught on fire, spreading quickly around the tree.

Sasuke smirked. There was no way she could have survived that... Or so he thought.

When the smoke cleared, the grass ninja stood. Clothes burnt but still standing.

"What are you?!" Sasuke growled, running up to the kunoichi and throwing a punch that was easily caught. The legless reptile from earlier returned and smashed into the branch they were fighting on. Sasuke landed on the ground near Sakura who had finally mustered enough energy to get up.

Looking up, her eyes met the grass ninjas. Kunai collided into her body and Sakura screamed in agony. She was covered in blood.

 _Genjutsu..._

She was sure it was genjutsu. But that didn't stop her from screaming.

 _This pain is too much to handle for someone like me_. Salura hated thinking it but she felt that it was true.

 **Someone like you?!"** Saskura's ...something asked. The soft voice Sakura often heard was back. And what horrible timing it had.

Sasuke looked over at her. She was trembling and the two of them couldn't move.

 _This is bad... This is bad!_

 **A/N Fight scenes aren't my forte. I'll have to work on that.**

 **Also, sorry if I'm being weird but for some reason I'm really um... nervous about uploading this.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N By the way, I am slightly changing events so it's not exactly like the anime. Or Manga (I don't know how different they are from one another since I don't read Manga).**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 7**

 _I can't move..._ Sakura thought.

"How am I going to get out of here?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"Fuck!" Sasuke cursed.

The grass ninja readied her kunai, aiming for Sakura. The girl was in the way.

 **"Sakura-chan!"** Sakura heard. **"I know you can get out of this! Just release the genjutsu!"**

"I c-can't move... though." Sakura said, not knowing she was actually speaking out loud.

 **"You can! I know you can! You're paralysed in fear. Just calm down and move!"**

Sakura tried. She really did but to know avail. Her eyes moved up from the ground. Their enemy had three kunai in the gaps of her fingers, almost about to throw them. Sakura could see the ninja aiming at her.

 _I guess she's making the genjutsu a reality. She made me see my death before it happened..._

Right before the ninja threw the ninja tools at them, Sakura heard her teammate beside her growl. Before she could even look at him, she felt hands grab onto her, she was lifted up and taken back, away from their attacker.

Naruto waited inside of the snake. _Seriously, though, how do I get out of here?_

"Ahhh!" Naruto screamed as he slowly slid some more into the carnivarous reptile.

"Quick thinking, Sas-" Sasuke clamped his hand over his teammate's mouth to quieten her.

Sakura was ready to slap him but she realised why. _Hopefully, she doesn't find us._

Sakura looked at Sasuke's thigh and felt the urge to cry. The blood on his clothing around his thigh was the reminder of how she failed, even with encouragement from... from whatever that was.

 _I'm once again the one who needed saving. I'm once again the ugly damsel in distress. And I'm once again, and always will be, the weak, pathetic and useless member of Team Seven._ _Plus, I'm a sorry excuse of a ninja..._

Sakura felt movement to her right and looked over, only to see the sight of their good friend; the snake who wants to eat them.

Grabbing onto Sasuke, she pulled him with her and jumped back, just moments before the snake striked. Sakura ended up hitting her back on another tree for the third time that day.

 _Damn trees everywhere!_ Sakura inwardly growled.

"Sakura, stay here!" Sasuke ordered and he ascended up onto a branch coming off of the tree Sakura had jumped into.

Sakura decided to disobey him and climbed up onto a different branch.

 _I may be useless but I... I can still fight trying!_

 **"The chakra coming off of this woman is strong. She cannot be a genin, for sure."** The voice from earlier returned and Sakura welcomed it.

"Then what does she want?" Sakura asked as she watched, and prayed for, Sasuke who was jumping from tree to tree. His hands were performing hand signs and multiple fire balls came out of his mouth, aimed at the phony genin.

 **"I don't know but you need to be careful. She doesn't seem to want the scroll. She just wants to kill you."**

Sakura's breath hitched for two reasons. One: The snake tried to attack Sasuke again but thankfully he evaded it and, Two: The harsh reality of this exam came back to her.

'And, don't die.' Is what their proctor, Anko Mitarashi, had said to them. As jokingly as she said it, the chance of them dying was high and this battle proved it.

Hoping to sneak up on the grass ninja, Sakura circled around the trees, waiting for an opening. Once Sasuke was on the opposite side of her, and their enemy was turned away from her, Sakura dashed forward and threw multiple shuriken.

However, the ninja sensed her attack and moved out of the way.

"A simple attack." The woman said. "Are you that weak?"

"Fuck you!" Sakura swore. The comment hit a nerve within her and Sasuke noted it before aiming another fire ball at the grass ninja.

"Somebody help!!!" Naruto had resorted to screaming for help when he couldn't find a way out.

 _Sakura's probably worried sick about me._ Naruto thought. Suddenly, a light bulb struck.

"Multi Shadow clone jutsu!"

 _That snake's a big problem._ Sakura assessed. _But how do you take down a giant snake?_

Sakura waited for a response but it never came.

Now, Sasuke and Sakura stood on the same branch and their enemy was on the branch opposite them.

Sasuke reached into his pack and retrieved their heaven scroll.

"Oh, is this what you want?" Their enemy said, holding up an earth scroll. And then, she ate it. Yeah, she just swallowed it out of no where. She couldn't have just ripped it up or thrown it away, she just ate it like she didn't have dinner yesterday.

 _What the fuck?!_ Sakura was deeply disturbed by this. _Yeah, I ate paper when I was a kid, but this?!_ _What the fuck is that thing?!_

"You were about to offer her that scroll?" Sakura asked Sasuke who slowly nodded. "You know, she doesn't want the scroll?"

"Had my suspicions. Confirmed now." Sasuke replied. _Fuck._ He inwardly cursed.

"We're screwed." Sakura announced.

"Yeah." Sasuke somehow managed to agree out loud.

"Naruto Uzumaki is here! Believe it!" Their blond friend appeared next to them, striking a pose which reminded Sakura of Gai, which reminded her of Lee.

 _I wonder if he's okay._ Sakura thought.

 _Great that I'm thinking about boys now of all times._ Sakura rolled her eyes. _Fucking pathetic, Sakura._

"Hey!" Naruto yelled at Sasuke. "Were you going to give our scroll away?!" He pointed at the Uchiha who was holding the heaven scroll out. Before his teammate could respond, Naruto snatched the scroll. "There's no way we're giving this away."

"You three shouldn't be allowed to be ninja." The grass ninja, who was now right beside Naruto, said. "Now die." She swiftly kicked Naruto in the ribs and knocked him off of the branch. Sasuke and Sakura had fled. Well, Sasuke hid in the leaves and Sakura jumped a few branches back, her eyes on Naruto's falling body.

But, somehow, Naruto rebounded off of a tree and kicked the grass ninja away.

Sakura caught the look of his eyes and saw them red.

 _What in the-_

 **"Kurama!"**

The sudden scream within her caught Sakura off guard. _Kurama? Who's Kurama?_

No reply.

"It can't be." The enemy said, astounded. She summoned another snake and Naruto punched around it's body. He jumped everywhere, landing punches and kicks anywhere he could.

The snake charged where Sasuke was, who froze. In fear, in shock, in fatigue? Whatever it was, he froze.

Fortunately for him, Naruto was able to stop it. Hands at the side of the snake's heads and facing Sasuke, Naruto said "You're not hurt, are you?" Sasuke remembered the taunt from their first mission out of Konoha. "Scaredy cat."

Naruto jumped up and attempted to tackle the grass ninja. But, the grass ninja used a Five Finger Sealing Jutsu and hit Naruto in the stomach.

The blond fell and Sakura threw a kunai to attach him to a tree so he wouldn't fall all the way to the ground.

Sakura made her way towards her fallen teammate as Sasuke attempted to attack the grass ninja again. It seemed a sudden spark had gotten him to start fighting again.

 _B_ _ecause of Naruto._ Sakura was sure of it.

Sakura placed Naruto where she thought he would be safe and looked in his pouch for the heaven scroll.

 _Where the hell is it?_ Sakura shook the bag upside down. _It's fucking empty! The doofus lost our scroll!_

There scroll was gone and they probably wouldn't be able to find it again. Sakura rushed back up to find the grass ninja tied to a tree.

 _Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!_ Sasuke burned the grass ninja once again.

"It's over." He said but he wasn't convinced. _It didn't work last time..._

Once the smoke cleared, the ninja remained there. But then she turned into mud and fell apart.

"What the-" Sakura looked around but she heard Sasuke scream. Their enemy's neck had grown and she had appeared to bite Sasuke.

"What did you do to him?!" Sakura screamed at the woman, as Sasuke violently shook.

"When he wakes up, tell him that Orochimaru left him a gift." As the wind swirled leaves around the ninja, she disappeared.

 _Shit._ Sakura cursed. She managed to lift an unconscious Sasuke and take him to the ground where Naruto was.

They were in a small shelter inside a tree trunk. An opening was right by it but Sakura hoped no one would notice them. Especially since it was now morning.

 _Might as well set up a few traps later..._ She began to attend to her teammates' wounds. _I'm no medical ninja..._ Sakura thought. _But I have to help!_

Sakura found herself staring at a cage. Well, doors with bars on them. A seal was attached to it; one she did not recognise.

On the other side of the door, there was only darkness. But a light sparked on the other side. But as quickly as it came, it left.

Then it happened again. And again. And again.

It happened for the final time and stayed lit up. Sakura saw a figure of someone far away. She began to speak but she couldn't. She couldn't move either and she couldn't even close her eyes.

The figure became clearer and she noticed that it was herself but crouching over, on the ground. Red bubbles appeared around the copy of her until they cloaked around her body, creating a tail as well.

Her copy looked at her and smirked. The copy mouthed one word at her. One word which Sakura craved most of all in the world.

" **Power."**

Sakura woke up.

"Shit." Sakura said as she looked around. Nothing was out of the ordinary. She was still in the tree trunk and Naruto and Sasuke were still unconscious.

"Can't believe I fell asleep..." Sakura grumbled as she moved to flick water on her face.

Then, Naruto woke up. "Sakura-chan." Naruto said, rubbing his eyes.

"Naruto, you're awake!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Ow." Naruto covered his ears. "You're too loud."

"Sorry." Sakura said.

The Uchiha woke up next. "Did you take care of us this entire time?" He asked.

Sakura nodded, her cheeks tinting red.

"Sakura-chan, you're the best!" Naruro was now being loud.

The boys began having their own conversation and Sakura saw movement on her left. Much like before, there was danger. Orochimaru stood there and morphed into their good friend: the giant ass snake who tried to kill them.

Sakura tried warning them but her voice wasn't working. She tried to get their attention by grabbing them but her habds went right through them. The snake attacked.

"Ahhhh!" Sakura screamed, waking up once again.

Once again, she berated herself for falling asleep.

Making sure she was no longer asleep, she pinched herself and splashed some water on her face from her bottle.

"I need to stay alert." She said out loud whilst taking Naruto's cloth. She hung it on a line she had made and put a new one onto her friend's forehead.

 _You have to protect them, Sakura._ _Be useful!_

The time she had got her to reflect on the previous battle. _What did I even do?_ _Watch my teammates battle and just stand there._

Meanwhile, Team Ten were hiding behind a bush.

"So, when we find Naruto's team, I'll distract Sasuke with my gorgeous self and, Shikamaru, you stop Sakura with Shadow Possession Jutsu. Chouji, you can just punch Naruto and he'll be done. We good?" Ino waited for her teammates' responses.

"This is such a drag..." Shikamaru sighed and Chouji opened a new pack of potatoe chips.

And with Team Three.

"We meet at this exact spot, got it?" Neji asked, throwing a kunai into the ground. Tenten and Lee nodded their heads. "Scatter!"

"How do we get rid of the girl?" Kin asked Dosu. The sound ninja were currently spying on Team Kakashi behind a bush near the opening.

"Just send a paper bomb there and our work will be done." Dosu replied.

"Why can't we have some fun with them?" Zaku asked.

"Our orders are to kill Sasuke Uchiha. Let's just get it over and done with?"

Sakura felt herself beginning to doze off again but she forced herself not to. She saw a squirrel make it's way towards her and it was about to cross over one of her traps. Luckily, she threw a kunai to stop it.

"Do you think she knew?" Zaku asked his teammates.

"No." Dosu said, eyeing the kunai and the grass below it.

"It's already been more than a day..." Sakura sighed. _And we don't even have one scroll!_

She looked at her teammates. _They both need rest. That woman, Orochimaru, did something to Sasuke. She bit him and look what it's done._ _There's this weird mark on his neck..._

 _And I don't understand what happened to Naruto. He was doing amazing but one attck and he's down. And for so long._

"Well, well, well..." Sakura heard and her head snapped to the voice.

She noticed them as the people who attacked Kabuto before the written exam.

"Now, girl, wake up Sasuke Uchiha and we won't hurt you." Dosu said, taking a slow step forward.

 _Sound ninja_. Sakura scowled.

"What's with you people and Sasuke? What does Orochimaru want and what's that weird mark that he put on Sasuke's neck?!" Sakura shouted.

 _Probably not a good idea to aggrivate the people who want to kill you..._

For some reason, the words Sakura had said stunned the three sound ninja.

"Let's kill her." Zaku said, taking great offence from her words.

Sakura eyed the trap she had set up.

"Oh, this." Dosu picked up the patch of grass. "Nice try." He said, and the three sound ninja jumped to attack her.

Reacting quickly, Sakura activated another one of her traps. A giant log flew to Team Dosu but was destroyed.

"How...?" Sakura didn't know what to do.

"Leaf Hurricane!" Dosu, Zaku and Kin were kicked away and Sakura recognised her saviour.

"Lee-san!" She exclaimed, not knowing if she was more happy than confused or more confused than happy. "What are you doing?" Sakura asked. "We're enemies! You shouldn't help me."

"You forget what I said to you when we first met." Lee said. The cherry blossom gave him a quizzical look. "Sakura-san, I swear I will protect you until the day I die."

"Lee..." Sakura had no words. She thought of it as some weird pick-up line she had never heard of but it seemed he actually meant it.

"How cute..." Zaku said, rolling his eyes. "Now move, eyebrow boy. Or do you want to die?"

"I'll handle this." Dosu said.

 _Gai-sensei, I may have to use that move. To protect someone I love!_ Lee thought.

"Boy," Dosu began. "We'll let you live if you leave now."

Lee remained where he stood.

"So be it." Dosu, with great speed, charged at Lee, who had disappeared.

Kicking upwards, Lee sent his opponent into the air. He jumped to level with his enemy.

 _He tried this on Sasuke. The forbidden move._ Sakira thought.

The spandex-wearing genin wrapped his bandages around Dosu and turned them upside down.

"Primary Lotus!" Lee span the two around.

"Shit." Zaku cursed and sent sound waves through the ground.

Lee landed on the cushioned ground and felt the aftershock of his attack.

Dosu stood up unharmed.

"How?" Lee asked, breathing heavily. The primary lotus was his best move and his enemy just stood up like it was nothing.

"If you haven't noticed by now, our attacks are sound based..." After Dosu explained something no one really cared about, he aimed a punch towards Lee who blocked it. The sound from Dosu's arm began right next to Lee's ear.

"Argh!" He groaned and collapsed onto the floor, coughing up blood. Dosu kicked Lee in the stomach to add to the pain.

"He's down." Shikamaru said from his spot beside his teammates. "Sakura's on her own." He shot a look to his female teammate.

"Sakura..." Ino stared at her former best friend who threw shuriken at Zaku. Zaku blew them back but, luckily, they didn't hit Sakura.

Sakura didn't notice Kin behind her who grabbed her by the hair. "Ah!" Sakura yelled.

"So shiny and soft..." Kin forcefully swayed Sakura's hair left and right. "If you had taken the time to train instead of taking care of your looks, you might have not been in this mess."

The words struck deep within Sakura. Maybe, it was true. She should have trained more. She was useless in the land of waves and now she was useless here.

 _I didn't help at all against Orochimaru._ A tear slid down her face.

 _I couldn't get out of the genjutsu even though I'm apparently the best at recognising it. Sasuke-kun had to save me._ Another tear.

 _He also had to save me at the Land of the Waves when those chunin attacked us._

'Get back!' She recalled his words.

 _Naruto and Sasuke-kun battled Zabuza to save Kakashi-sensei while I was too fucking scared to do anything._ She clenched her fist.

 _And here I am. Meant to save them and I can't even fucking do that. Lee-san had to save me._

The cherry blossom looked at him through her teary eyes and saw that he was looking at her too, great shame evident upon his face. _He probably thinks he's failed me even though it's my fault he's been put through this._

"Hey, Dosu." Kin called. "Go get Sasuke and we'll kill him right infront of this sexy bug." She violently shook Sakura's head.

Ino watched on, her knees shaking. She couldn't let this happen, could she?

 _Fuck them._ Sakura cursed, referring to the sound ninja. _Fuck these exams. And fuck this hair._

She grabbed her last kunai.

"You know that's not going to work, right?" Kin said.

Sakura smirked, bringing her kunai up. "What are you saying?"

The pinkette sliced right through her hair, cutting off her pink locks and saying farewell to the old Sakura.

 _Sasuke-kun... Naruto..._ Sakura rose as red aura began to surround her.

 _Please, watch my back as I fight for you._ Red chakra swirled around her.

 _And, please, fight with me, Five-tails_!

 **"Power!** Sakura and the Five-tails yelled.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N Thanks for 10 reviews. It may not seem like much but it is to me.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 8**

 **"Power!"** Sakura and the Five-tails shouted.

A ferocious wind picked up and swirled around Sakura, much like the red chakra. Branches off of trees broke and leaves were lost in the wind.

Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji were crouching behind the bush. "What's going on?!" Ino yelled over the wind.

"What?!" Chouji asked. His pack of potatoe chips flew out of his hands and, surprisingly, he didn't reach out to grab them.

"What is she?!" Dosu asked his teammate, Zaku. The two were shielding their eyes with their arms.

"Kill her, Kin!" Zaku shouted but their female teammate couldn't hear them.

Sakura felt more alive than ever. She felt her skin boiling but it didn't hurt or irritate her. In fact, she loved the feeling. She felt powerful.

The winds stopped and every ninja's head turned towards Sakura who's body was still surrounded with red chakra.

"Shika... Do you know what that is?" Ino asked her friend. The genius shook his head, eyes wide and unmoving from Sakura.

"Kin, take her down!" Zaku instructed. Kin grabbed her kunai and charged at Sakura.

Sakura turned towards her enemy and gathered chakra into her fist. "Fuck you!" The jinchuriki yelled as she destroyed the ground with her fist.

Kin buckled and tripped, falling onto the floor. The kunoichi began to get back up but she felt hair being pulled.

Sakura threw Kin by her hair into the tree next to Team Ten, not knowing they were there. Her eyes focused onto her other enemies who were stunned. And then they shifted to Lee.

Anger fueled her body and she screamed, running straight at Dosu. Fueling her fist with chakra once more, she aimed to punch him in the chest. Dosu cleverly dodged the quick attack but then, Sakura's fist connected to Zaku's face.

"Urgh!" Zaku flew to the floor and spat out blood. "What are you?!" He screamed at the pinkette.

"Please." Dosu pleaded with Sakura, offering an Earth Scroll. "Take our scroll and let us leave."

"Die!" Zaku shouted, blasting his sound waves. Sakura evaded them by jumping up and she performed some hand signs.

 _Earth Style: Weighted Boulder Jutsu!_

Four huge boulders rose into the sky around Sakura. She commanded them to crush Zaku and the boulders flew towards him.

Zaku tried to dodge them but one hit him and sent him back onto the ground, unconscious.

Dosu tentatively placed the Earth Scroll onto the floor and went to pick up Zaku and Kin.

The red chakra around Sakura faded and she watched Dosu begin to leave.

"Sakura Haruno, wasn't it?" He asked before he left. She didn't respond and showed no emotion onto her face.

Dosu left and he was planning on what to tell Orochimaru about this girl. He thought about hiding it since their master had lied to them about their mission being to kill Sasuke. But he wouldn't hide this kind of information. No, instead Dosu will just kill Sasuke Uchiha.

Team Ten continued to hide behind the bush and they watched Sakura slowly make her way towards Lee. Before she collapsed onto the ground next to him.

Ino was the first to run and help them. Shikamaru and Chouji were forced to follow.

Neji and Tenten were searching for Lee, Neji obviously using his Byakugan. He saw what had happened at the opening and made his way with Tenten towards his teammate.

"What are you doing?" Neji asked Team Asuma as they placed Lee next to Sasuke and Naruto.

"Taking care of YOUR teammate!" Ino yelled as she began to pick up Sakura.

"Oh, shit." She heard Shikamaru curse. Ino turned towards him and saw Sasuke starting to wake up.

 _Good._ The blonde thought. _At least we won't have to babysit._ She saw her former best friend begin to stir on the ground.

"What... Are you doing to her?" Sasuke asked them, his voice shaking and black marks starting to go over his face. He inched towards Ino and Shikamaru and Chouji tried to keep him back. Sasuke pushed them away and continued to walk towards Ino and Sakura.

Sakura's eyes darted open and she jumped up, feeling refreshed but confused.

 _What happened?_ Sakura wondered. Looking forwards, she saw Sasuke walking towards her.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, quickly running to her teammate and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Then she noticed the marks on his face and the pained expression he was wearing.

"Sasuke...?" Sakura moved back to look at him and watched the marks retract to the bruise on his neck.

Sasuke fell to the floor, weakened and Sakura crouched beside him. He was awake, just tired.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, adressing the others.

Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji and Neji watched her beside Sasuke and Tenten tried waking up Lee by shaking him around.

"I'm fine." Sasuke said, managing enough strength to sit up. Sakura nodded and made her way to Lee.

"Lee-san..." Lee bowed his head to her.

"Sakura-san, I hope you will forgive me-" Sakura interrupted him.

"Thank you." The cherry blossom hugged him and gave him a peck on the cheek.

Lee's face turned red and he saluted her. "Y-you're welcome!" Sakura chuckled.

"Ow!" Sakura heard Naruto yell. It seems Shikamaru and Chouji had woken up Naruto...

Sakura walked over to Sasuke and tried not to think about what happened moments earlier and why everyone was here.

"Sakura," The Uchiha started. "Don't tell Naruto about what happened and..."

"I won't." Sakura replied when the Uchiha couldn't say another word.

"Sakura-chan!" The blond dobe raced over to his female teammate and pointed at her hair. "Did you know your hair's shorter?!" He shrieked.

Sakura touched the back of her head and smiled. "It was getting in the way." When no one spoke, she asked "Don't you think I look cute?"

"Yeah! I do!" Naruto shouted, love hearts in his eyes.

"Forehead!" Sakura heard Ino shout. She noted that Team Gai had left. She also noted that the Earth Scroll Dosu gave her was on the floor. "Let me fix up your hair!"

Sakura made her way towards Ino and picked up the scroll on the way.

"She does." Sasuke said to no one in particular.

"What?" Naruto asked.

 _Look cute._ Sasuke finished in his head. "Hn." He offered as a reply to Naruto.

"Do you think we should tell someone?" Chouji asked Shikamaru.

"Tell them what? That a girl had red aura swirl around her and beat three ninja up on her own. Sakura, no less!" Shikamaru said. "This is such a drag..."

"So, you're telling me she beat them on her own?" Tenten asked a Lee.

"It was nothing I've ever seen. She grabbed her kunai, sliced her hair off and this red aura started to surround her. And she yelled out 'Power' as it was happening." Lee explained what he had witnessed.

"We need to stay careful of her." Neji said. "And the Uchiha. They're not right."

Sakura tossed the Earth Scroll from her left hand to her right hand. And back and forth, and back and forth as Ino was doing her hair.

"What the hell did you do?" Ino asked Sakura.

"It was getting in the way-"

"Not your hair!" Ino interrupted the pinkette. "The red thing."

"You saw that?" Sakura froze.

"Yeah! You did that to look good infront of Sasuke!" The blonde accused her.

Sakua sighed. She wasn't in the mood for this. She had just done... something.

The cherry blossom had a feeling that the voice she was speaking to was the Gobi. She didn't have another explanation.

And now, the beast had given her power. So much power. She felt amazing with all of the chakra. She felt unstopable.

And she felt dangerous.

Sakura surveyed the holes in the ground. She had made those and she was able to perform a jutsu she had not been able to do the day before.

During her training of Earth Release, she wasn't able to learn the move so she stopped. But, in the spur of the moment, she tried it and it had worked.

 _Earth Style: Weighted Boulder Jutsu._

With all of the chakra, she could learn the most advanced jutus. Maybe she could learn another nature release.

Maybe she could learn to do those big punches again with the right chakra control, which she excelled at.

"Well, we're off." Ino announced and Team Asuma ran off into the darkness of the trees.

Team Seven sat at the sheltered tree. "We don't have any food." Sakura said. She hadn't eaten since before they left and her stomach was rumbling.

"Where's our scroll?" Sasuke asked. Sakura showed them the Earth Scroll. "We had a Heaven Scroll." He narrowed his eyebrows at her.

"It was in Naruto's pouch but I couldn't find it in there once he was out."

"Great going, Dobe." Sasuke said as Naruto tried looking into his pouch for the Heaven Scroll. "Wait." Sasuke said.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"How did you get an Earth Scroll?" Sasuke asked his teammate.

"Oh, I uh... I got it. On my own." Sakura said, looking away from her teammates.

"You mean, you took on three ninja by yourself and won?!" Naruto asked.

"Well, Lee helped a bit." Sakura's cheeks flashed rose red for a split second before she repeated her earlier statement. "We need food."

"We could find something to eat here." Naruto said, looking around. "Do you think the proctor would set up some ramen stalls in here?"

"No." Sakura said. "And the only reason we hope for that is because we weren't smart enough go bring our own food. Wish I stole Chouji's chips..." The girl grumbled.

"There's three days left." Sasuke said, looking up at the night. The genin wondered when it got dark. "Sakura, get some rest."

"What?" The cherry blossom asked.

"I'll go look for some food. Naruto, watch her." The Uchiha began to walk away.

"No, I'm fine." Sakura yawned while saying it.

"You took care of us the entire time we were unconscious. You need rest or you'll slow us down." The last sentence came out rushed. Sasuke almost even blushed.

"...Fine." Sakura said, laying down onto the ground while Naruto fiddled with a kunai, grumbling about how he should be the one to look for food but then saying he would rather watch Sakura then have Sasuke watch her.

Back in the Land of Earth...

"Please, leave us alone." A woman cried. "Tadashi!" She shrieked as said man was thrown into a wall by another man who resembled a shark.

The man wore a cloak with red clouds on it. On his back, he carried a great sword.

"Don't get too carried away, Kisame." Sharkman's partner said. This man resembled Sasuke greatly, only taller. "We need **Are-shiki** alive." The way he said the name was as if he was mocking it.

"You know..." The man on the floor said.

"We know everything about you." Kisame grabbed his sword. "Tadashi Haruka of the Haruka clan. 16 years of age and calls hinself Are-shiki when on missions. Mainly because you possess something within you."

Tadashi screamed and aimed a punch at Kisame, however he was blown back with a kick.

"You possess some chakra of the Five-tails." Kisame finished.

"We'll let you live if you tell us who is the actual possesser of the Gobi." Itachi said, his eyes turning red as Tadashi avoided the Uchiha's eyes.

"Die in a hole." Tadashi replied, spitting at them as he spoke.

"Her name is Sakura Haruno!" Tadashi's mother shouted.

"Kaa-san!" Tadashi was shocked she would sell the leaf ninja out. But up against her son, he understood why.

"Village?" Kisame sighed.

"Konoha."

"Oh." The shark smirked. "That's where you're from, Itachi."

"It's also where the Kyuubi is." Itachi replied.

"So, we get two jinchurikis. One each."

"You forget that they possess power greater than that of ours. We take them together."

"Fine." Kisame slightly pouted.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N Time skip to the preliminaries. I don't want to bore you guys by writing a chapter that is exactly like the canon storyline, especially when there isn't much I can change.**

 **Also, if you guys don't know what I'm trying to do with this story, I want to go through the entire Naruto Storyline but with things being altered and changed such as Sakura being a jinchuriki and the whole thing with Tadashi. I also changed some events a tiny bit so it doesn't seem like an exact copy.**

 **I want to go through all the arcs for Naruto (well, related ones) but I'm not sure which are fillers and which are canon for shippuden. For part one, I know to start from the Land of the Waves (granted, I skipped passed that but I can still refer to it) to chunin exams, then konoha crush, then Tanzaku town and finally Sasuke Retrieval however I still want to maybe add my own arcs.**

 **For shippuden, I am not sure which arcs to do. Of course, I know some that would obviously need to be kept like Kazekage rescue. But I'm talking about arcs with Guren and Utakata. They seem relevant but then again...**

 **What do you think?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 9**

21 genin stood inside the hall. In front of them were their two previous proctors, their jounin teachers and the Third Hokage.

Sakura eyed the other genin. Somehow, Team Dosu were able to make it and they were throwing looks at her. Looks that didn't sit well with her.

"What's wrong?" Sakura heard from behind her. She turned and saw Sasuke looking at her with an expectant look. He glanced at the sound ninja and then back at her.

"Um..." She considered lying for a moment. "I got the Earth Scroll off of them." It wasn't a lie, she just didn't give him the real reason she was nervous about them.

 _They saw me when..._

"Just ignore them." Sasuke replied and his teammate nodded.

The pinkette continued looking around the other genin. Of course Kabuto and his team were here. He had shown them his scrolls but she would be lying if she said she didn't consider taking one off of him at the time.

She also saw that the Team Seven and Team Ten had made it too as well as Lee and his teammates. (She couldn't recall their names at the time).

And how could Sakura forget about the Sand Team? Temari, Gaara and whatever the other guy's name was.

While Sakura was staring at them, Temari caught her eye. The Sand genin smirked at her until a loud cough was heard infront of them.

"First, I would like to congratulate all of you in making it passed the second exam of the chunin exams. Jounin, Hayate Gekko, will explain to you your next task."

A Leaf ninja appeared from a poof. Sakura assumed it was Hayate.

He coughed multiple times before speaking. "S... since a lot if you have," He paused to cough. "passed this exam, a preliminary round has to be... done."

Sakura vaguely remembered her father talking about a preliminary round.

"Now, there are 21 of you all together and the mathes will start immediately."

 _Shit._ Sakura cursed. She was tired from the Forest of Death, but maybe that was the reason the battles would be now.

"First of all," Hayate coughed. "is there anyone who would like to withdraw from the exams? If so, please speak up now."

No one dared to move. Sakura wondered who would actually want to give up now. She slightly pondered the idea, but she was so close to actually becoming chunin. She couldn't give up now.

"Argh..." She heard Sasuke quietly growl. She turned around and watched him grab his neck.

"It's that mark..." Sakura said. Sasuke looked at her, glaring. She noticed Naruto staring curiously at them. "You have to withdraw."

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"You're in too much pain." The cherry blossom told him. The daggers he threw at her with his eyes hurt more than Orochimaru's attacks.

"Yeah, Sasuke." Naruto said. "If you're hurt..." Sasuke interrupted him.

"Naruto, you're one of the people I'm looking forward to beating the most."

 _Sasuke knows exactly how to play him._ Sakura scowled at the Uchiha. _Talk about battling so he doesn't encourage you to leave. Yeah, let's just forget about your well-being then._ She rolled her eyes.

"Sasuke-kun, if you're not going to raise your hand, then I will for you." The Uchiha grabbed at his teammate's hand that was about to raise.

"Don't you dare!" He spat at her.

"I give." The voice stopped the two from arguing further. Kabuto stood with his hand raised.

"K-Kabuto-san...!" Naruto stuttered.

"I'm beat." The silver-haired genin smiled sheepishly before walking away.

 _I can't believe he quit._ Sakura thought. _After helping us and making it passed it passed the forest, he just gives up?_

More coughing caught their attention. "So..." Gekko coughed again. "Is there anyone else?"

Sakura looked back at Sasuke who glared at her for the one thousandth time.

 _Fine, then._ Sakura rolled her eyes. _If he dies, I'm going to bring him back to life and say 'I told you so.'_

"Please stand at the viewpoints and away from the battlefield unless it is your turn to fight."

It really did take a while for Sakura to process what was happening.

 _...Wait, what?! We're going to fight each other?!_ The girl's eyes travelled to Team Dosu and then to Team Gaara.

Standing at the side, Sakura didn't even notice who was battling because she was too busy freaking out.

 _I have to fight infront of all these people... And I don't even know who I'm going to fight?_

 **"Sakura-chan..."**

The voice was welcome at this point. Sakura was so used to the Gobi speaking to her, it didn't come as a shock now.

 **"Please, don't worry. This is a chance for you to show your true strength infront of everyone. You said you wanted Naruto and Sasuke to watch your back, didn't you?"**

 _I-I..._ She was still nervous. She was mostly worried about battling the Sound and Sand ninja. The guy who was picking on Konoharmaru and Gaara creeped her out, she didn't know Kin's abilities, Dosu and Zaku looked like they wanted to kill her and Temari kept on smirking at her.

 _I just hope whoever I'm up against isn't one of them..._

"Sakura-chan, let's cheer for Sasuke-teme!" Naruto snapped Sakura out of her inner talk with the Gobi. She looked at her teammate (and sensei) who were standing next to the railing, looking at her.

 _Cheer for Sasuke? He's fighting first?! Naruto wants to cheer for him?!_ The pinkette looked to see Sasuke staring off with one of Kabuto's teammates.

She hoped it didn't show outwardly but she was extremely worried for her teammate. The bruise on his neck was painful and he wasn't listening to her about withdrawing. _He sure is stubborn._ Sakura thought, supressing a smile.

"You mean, you three found a heaven scroll on the floor? Hahaha!" Sakura heard Asuma laugh while talking to his team.

 _What kind of idiot drops a heaven scroll?_ She asked herself

 _Processing..._

 _Processing..._

 _Processing..._

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, giving him a good smack on the head.

"Ow!" Naruto rubbed his head. "What was that for?"

"For being stupid!" Sakura replied, turning away from her idiotic teammate and silently fuming. She turned her attention back towards Sasuke who had already began fighting with his opponent.

Right now, Sakura wasn't sure what she felt about Sasuke. Before becoming a ninja, she was infatuated and disgustingly obssessed with him. Now, she thought of him as a teammate and friend but nothing more. Still, she was extrememly worried about him during his match.

The boy he was battling had an unusual technique. He could drain someone of their chakra. Sakura didn't know whether or not he absorbed it however she felt her arms grip the bars tighter and tighter once the leaf ninja was able to use that technique on Sasuke. Sasuke was already low on chakra and now this was happening.

Somehow, Sasuke was able to kick his opponent off of him and activated his bloodline. Sakura could hear a few "ooohs" and an Ino shouting "Yay, Sasuke!"

Sakura was shocked that Sasuke was copying Lee's technique once he launched his opponent in the air.

The cherry blossom looked over at the boy who saved her in the Forest of Death. _He looks unimpressed._ She frowned. _Maybe he thinks it's cheap to copy someone's attack. But didn't he copy Gai-sensei's eyebrows?_

The pinkette turned her attention back on her teammate. He was behind his enemy in the air and she could see the mark growing over his face, much like it had done in the forest.

Kakashi frowned once he saw it and Sakura noticed.

"Lion's Barage!" Sasuke had won the match by a made up attack, slightly copied off of another ninja.

Naruto admitted that he thought it was pretty cool. Well, he admitted it to himself and no one else.

The jonin of Team Seven appeared behind the Uchiha boy to stop him from collapsing. "We're going to have to seal that."

"Sakura-chan," Naruto began. "Did you see marks over Teme's face?"

"Huh?" Sakura asked. "No." She said, lying to her teammate's face.

"Oh..."

More coughing brought their attention to the bottom of the hall. "The next match..." Hayate began and turned his attention to the board. "Shino Aburame VS Zaku Abumi!"

Zaku felt quite relieved. He wanted to battle against Sasuke but that didn't happen but he was happy that he hadn't been paired up with the pink-haired girl. She took him down with two attacks and he didn't want that to happen again since there would be grave consequences for losing this battle.

But, in the end, Zaku had lost and he was taken to the hospital on a stretcher. Shino silently walked back to his teammates, who congratulated him.

Meanwhile, Kakashi had sealed Sasuke's curse mark.

"Orochimaru..." The jonin said and the snake revealed himself.

"My, my, Kakashi. Trying to stop one of my experiments?"

"What are your intentions with him?" Kakashi questioned, cautious of his enemy, not letting his eyes move away from the rogue sannin.

"Naruto Uzumaki. Host to the nine-tailed fox." Orochimaru said. "Sakura Haruno. Host to the five-tailed dolphin-horse. But where does that leave Sasuke Uchiha?"

Kakashi was shocked he knew who the hosts of the tailed beasts were. _When did he find out and how?_ Kakashi asked himself.

The snake took a step forward. "Come any closer and I'll kill you." Activating his lighting blade, Kakashi dared Orochimaru to move. Of course, Kakashi knew he couldn't kill Orochimaru alone.

"Fine, fine." The lord of snakes relented. "All I will say is I told Sakura in the forest to tell Sasuke it was a gift."

"Now..." Hayate began and looked towards the board. "Kankuro VS Misumi!"

 _That's purple-face's name._ Sakura thought.

She didn't think there was such a thing as a ventriloquist who fought with puppets. She just thought they did plays. The cherry blossom was afraid of puppets before, now she was absolutely terrified.

Once Kankuro had won his battle, Hayate announced that they were going to take a break.

Kakashi returned.

"How's Sasuke-kun?" Sakura immediately asked him. Her eagerness caught herself by surprise but she brushed it off.

"Resting in the hospital." Kakashi replied. He decided not to question her yet of what happened during the second exam.

"Sakura-chan, where are you going?" Naruto asked his teammate as she began to walk away from them.

"To the... ladies room." Sakura blushed while saying it, hurrying up to the toilets.

Splashing water on her face, the kunoichi looked up at her reflection.

 _I almost forgot..._ Sakura touched the back of her hair. _...I do look kinda cute._ She thought. _...Not that it matters... Or anything._

Sakura made her way to leave just as Ino decided to enter. The silence lingering between them held the encounter they had in the forest.

Ino had seen what Sakura had done and Sakura wasn't even really sure what she had done.

They walked passed each other, no words were exchanged.

"And then I got the idea to use clones..." Naruto was explaining to Kakashi how they got the alternate scroll just as Sakura returned. "And Sakura...!" Naruto began as he saw Sakura approaching. "She got an Earth Scroll all by herself! Isn't that amazing, Kakashi-sensei?!"

"Wow." Kakashi said. "I'm proud of you, Sakura."

The girl of Team Seven blushed brightly, not used to praise from their teacher. But she thanked him.

"We'll now resume the preliminary matches." Hayate announced followed by another coughing fit.

 _Does he want some water or something...?_ Sakura wondered, quite rudely.

"I'm raring to go!" Naruto shouted and Sakura smiled at him.

"Naruto..." She sighed, catching the blond's attention."Sometimes..." Her cheeks turned slightly pink. "...I wish I had your confidence."

There. She had done it. She told one of her teammates how she felt. Well, not really but she opened up a bit.

"Sakura-" Naruto began.

"I think you should be paying attention right now." Kakashi said to Sakura, pointing to the board.

Sakura wasn't expecting it. Nope. Not this. Not this at all.

 _I take it back. Put me up against Gaara._

On the board, it said "Sakura Haruno VS Ino Yamanaka."

 _Fuck._


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 10**

Ino was shocked. She didn't expect to be paired up with Sakura of all people.

Meanwhile, Sakura was freaking out. _This is all my fault. If I had just hoped to go against one of the sound ninja, this wouldn't have happened!_

"Sakura-chan!" Her blond teammate called. "Win this and we'll go to the final round together with Sasuke, believe it!" He pushed out his fist which Sakura reluctantly accepted. She then slowly made her way down the stairs as did Ino.

The two kunoichi stood opposite each other, Hayate between them. "The match begins..." He coughed. "...Now!"

No one moved. They continued to stare at each other, daring the other girl to move.

"I didn't think I would be matched up with you." Ino said. "This is going to be an easy win."

"Yeah, for me." Sakura retorted.

"You're all talk!" The blonde accused her, grabbing her kunai out. The pinkette copied.

They charged.

Sakura jumped over Ino before they could get into contact and began to strike her in the back.

Ino quickly turned around and blocked using her ninja tool. Sakura used her left hand to punch Ino away, landing a hit to her right cheek.

The Team Ten ninja stumbled backwards and Sakura jumped back a bit to put distance between them.

"This is a battle between two leaf kunoichi..." Neji sighed, disappointed and Naruto looked at him curiosly.

"It's not because they're female!" Tenten scolded her teammate. "We all had a tough time in the forest and," Tenten looked back at the two girls who were evading each others attacks. "They seem to be restraining themselves."

"Restraining themselves?" The host to the nine-tails looked at his teammate. _How exactly did she get the Earth Scroll?_ Naruto wondered. Not that he thought Sakura was weak, he just wanted to know what happened.

Ino missed her punch towards Sakura but was slowly inching her enemy towards the wall. When Ino punched, and was certain it would hut Sakura, the cherry blossom jumped up and stood on the side of the wall.

 _I guess I am good at chakra control._ Sakura praised herself.

Ino was annoyed. The amount of times her and Sakura would battle, back when they were friends, and Ino would win. Now, here was Sakura who was able to block or dodge her punches.

"There's no way." Ino announced. "No way that you're better than me." Sakura glared at her and leaped to the other side of the hall.

"You're annoyed at me being better than you? Don't cut yourself on that edge." The cherry blossom smirked.

"Argh..." Ino gritted her teeth. "Fine!" She growled and started to perform hand seals.

"Asuma-sensei..." Shikamaru said. "I don't recognise those hand signs."

"Neither do I." His teacher replied.

 _Have to thank Kaa-san for the justu._ Ino thought. _Ninja Art: Covered With Flowers._

Wind flew around the hall as flowers that appeared from no where surrounded it.

 _What the hell?_ Sakura thought. Everywhere she looked, there were purple flowers. She couldn't even see the people who were watching the match.

"Kakashi-sensei, I can't see anything!" Naruto complained.

"I didn't know she could do this." Chouji said, happily muching on his potatoe chips.

Ino ran through the flowers, kunai in hand and aiming for Sakura. The cherry blossom saw her coming but it may have been to late.

The flowers desended to the floor and the spectators could now see. They could see Ino's kunai impailed into Sakura's stomach and Sakura's kunai in hand, targeted onto Ino's head.

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto looked on in horror at the display.

"..." Ino couldn't believe she had done it and she couldn't look up at Sakura's eyes, focusing her own eyes on the kunai.

She heard Sakura laugh and finally looked up at her, a quizzical expression on her face.

"...You always liked flowers." The pinkette smiled as her body divided into cherry blossoms and her kunai dropped to the floor.

"A... a clone?" Ino looked around her. _Where is she?_

Sakura ascended through the ground right beside Ino and kicked her former best friend in the right cheek again but this time sending her flying away.

 _In the forest, I was too scared to do anything..._ Sakura thought. _I didn't even use any of the techniques I had been training. Not anymore._

"Sh- she just broke through the ground!" Naruto exclaimed and he turned to his teacher. "Did you teach her that?!"

"No, she learnt it on her own." Kakashi said, remembering the Earth Release Scroll he had left for her in the library.

"Sakura-chan, you're so cool!" Naruto cheered for his teammate.

Sakura blushed a bit but focused her attention on a furious Ino.

"So, now you've learnt some weird techniques?!" Ino stood up and Sakura swore she saw steam coming out of her ears. "Weird clones, earth style and even red chakra!"

It surprised some people that she had red chakra. Some of the older folk looked at Kakashi, who paid them no mind and looked at Sakura in wonder.

"And all you know is how to make flowers come out of no where." Sakura taunted her.

"You actually think you're better than me!" The blonde shrieked and pointed at the Team Seven ninja.

"I don't think, I know."

 **"Yes, Sakura-chan!"**

"And this now found confidence?! All because you cut your damn hair!" Ino grabbed her kunai.

"She's gone absolutely mental." Asuma said to Kakashi.

"I guess that's what happens between rivals." The silver-haired man replied.

Ino sliced her pony-tail off and threw the strands onto the floor.

"You're crazy." Sakura said, eyeing her former best friend.

"Arghhhh!" The blonde growled and formed a hand seal that Sakura and Team Ten knew well.

"She's not-" Shikamaru was shocked.

"The Mind Transfer Jutsu." Sakura said. "You already used that on me during the written exam."

"What's she doing?" Naruto asked and Kakashi who didn't reply.

"You can use it but if it misses..." Sakura was curious as to why she would use it. She, of all people, should know what happens if the jutsu misses or if the target of the jutsu dodges.

"Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!" Sakura jumped out of they way and Ino's body slumped forward.

 _Is it done? Did I win?_ Sakura was going to move but she found that she couldn't. Looking down, she saw that Ino's hair was stopping her from doing so.

Ino began to laugh. "You actually fell for it." The pinkette looked at her, wide-eyed. "Now..." She formed the Mind Transfer hand sign.

 _I need to form a clone to get out of here!_ Sakura formed a hand sign but it was too late.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

The hall was quiet. The surprise turn had left them all shocked. Even Neji was on the edge of his metaphorical seat.

Sakura raised her hand. "I, Sakura Haruno-"

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto interrupted her. "Don't give up! You're so close to the final round! Don't let this girl stop you!

Ino/Sakura frowned. "I-" She began to clutch her head. "Ugh! What?!"

Ino found herself infront of a cage. "What in the world?" Inside the cage, she saw Sakura. A grey Sakura.

It seemed as though Inner Sakura had made an appearance after so long.

In the hall, Sakura clenched her fist. "Get out, Ino. Shannaro!" The audience were confused. Even the Third Hokage was lost as to what was going on.

Ino saw a beast behind Inner Sakura. Inner Sakura had passed through the bars of the cage and punched Ino. Obviously, in the right cheek again.

Ino was sent back into her body and Sakura was back in her own.

"Wh... what the fuck?" Ino yelled. "What the hell are you?!" She shrieked.

 _I've had enough of this._ Sakura performed a hand sign. _Cherry Blossom Clone Jutsu!_

Three more Sakuras appeared and formed a triangle around Ino. All used hand signs at a rapid pace and put their hands on the floor.

"Earth Style: Earth Shock Jutsu!" They announced in a chorus.

The ground around Ino broke and she jumped up to avoid it. But she forgot about the real Sakura who was up high, above her.

Sakura formed a fist and the boiling sensation was back. Infusing her chakra into her fist, she cried "Shannaro!" She aimed at the ground next to Ino, not wanting to actually hit Ino.

Smoke now surrounded the hall. Once it cleared, everyone could see Sakura on top of Ino. The pinkette's left hand pinning Ino's hands above her head. Sakura's right hand had a kunai positioned by Ino's neck. The cherry blossom's body was stopping Ino from using her legs.

"The match is over. The winner is Sakura Haruno." As soon as the words left Hayate's mouth, Sakura stood up and moved away from Ino, almost falling as she did so.

Medics rushed to Ino but she waved them off. "I'm fine." She said but, right after, she collapsed. Asuma picked her up and successfully waved the medics off.

Sakura rushed up the stairs, avoiding the stares people were giving her.

"Sakura-chan, you did it!" Naruto hugged his teammate.

"Congratulations, Sakura." Kakashi said and, once again, Sakura blushed.

Lee walked up to Sakura. "Nice work, Sakura-san!" He gave her a thumbs up and a smile. His teeth made a 'ping' sound again.

"Thank you, Lee-san." The cherry blossom bowed her head and Naruto scowled at the Team Three member.

Gai then walked up to Kakashi. "Those are some well-taught ninja, Kakashi." The jonin complimented about both Sasuke and Sakura. "Lee will not stop talking about Sakura. And her red chakra in the Forest of Death." He lowered his voice down at the end.

Kakashi didn't reply. He didn't know how. When he told Sakura that she was the host to the five-tails, she wanted nothing to do with it. Was it possibe that she was now harnessing the beast's chakra?

 _And..._ Sakura thought. _I have to thank you, Gobi._

 **"Kokuo."**

 _Pardon?_

 **"My name is Kokuo."**

 _Well, thank you, Kokuo-chan._

Hayate announced that the next two genin to battle would be Tenten and Temari.

Sakura studied Temari's attacks. It didn't seem that hard to decipher that her attacks were wind based because of the giant fan on her back.

Temari won the battle and she threw Tenten across the hall. Lee appeared below and caught his teammate.

 _Half of the matches are done..._ _And I'm one of the people who are going to the final round._ Sakura smiled. _Both Sasuke and I have won our battles. Now, Naruto needs to win... Oh!_

Before her battle with Ino, Sakura had planned to do something if Naruto was called for his match. Now that hers was over and done with, she could do it now.

"Naruto..." Sakura had his attention. She held out her pouch for him to take. "You lost all of your kunai in the forest. You may need some... So... Here." Her cheeks were as pink as her hair. She didn't know why she was so nervous. Maybe it was beacause their Sensei was standing right beside them.

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto honestly wanted to cry. Sakura had a gift for him. "Thank you!" He gave her another hug, tighter than the one before.

"N- Naruto! Can't breathe!" The blond quickly moved away from her, afraid that she would hit him.

"I'm sure to win with these!" Naruto attached the pouch to his right leg.

"Sakura..." Said girl turned her head to the voice to see Ino who had now woken up. The blonde held her hand out, looking away.

Sakura accepted it.

"Next time, I won't lose." Ino said, smiling.

"I look forward to it." Sakura smiled too. _Right, Kokuo-chan?_

 **"Right, Sakura-chan!"**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N I've been having so many ideas but not for Sakura but for Sakura Shippuden during the war. So, I have to get through this to get there.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 11**

Sakura was looking in a mirror. But, she couldn't see herself. She just saw darkness. She couldn't see her pink hair. She just saw darkness. She couldn't see her emerald eyes. She just saw darkness. She couldn't see her silly Haruno clan dress. She just saw darkness.

A grey figure started to form infront of her. It took the shape of her and became her reflection, the only difference was, her reflection was Inner Sakura.

Two colours were on Inner Sakura's face. Her eyes were blue and the skin around her eyes was red.

"Sakura-chan!" The pinkette snapped out of her daydream due to her loud teammate. "You spaced out." Naruto said.

"Sorry." She replied.

"Come on! The winners are at the front!" The blond ninja grabbed his teammate's hand and they ran to the other victors.

The preliminaries were over and the victors were (in order): Sasuke Uchiha, Shino Aburame, Kankuro, Sakura Haruno, Temari, Shikamaru Nara, Naruto Uzumaki, Neji Hyuga, Gaara and Dosu Kinuta.

Sakura was happy that all of Team Seven had made it to the final round but so did all of Team Gaara along with Dosu.

To be honest, Gaara made Sakura angry for what he did to Lee. A small part of her wanted to beat the living shit out of Gaara. But she knew she couldn't.

Along with Gaara, Neji Hyuga made her angry. That explains itself.

 _Seriously, though, I've never seen Hinata like that._ Sakura's mind flashed to the shy girl's bravery once Naruto had cheered for her. Her eyes moved to her teammate. _It's the Naruto effect._

Ten genin stood where previously twenty-one had. Well, nine since Sasuke was in the hospital.

"First of all, congratulations on making it passes the preliminary round." Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, said. "But, the final exam will not be as easy. If anyone wishes to withdraw, please do so now."

 _Fuck no._ Sakura thought. _We've been through too much shit to get here. Who's going to give in now?_

"No one?" Hiruzen questioned. "Just as I had thought..." He muttered. "The final exam will be on in one month from today."

"What?" Temari asked, flabbergasted. She didn't want to stay in Konoha for that long. Probably all sound and sand ninja didn't. "Why so long?"

"This is such a drag..." Shikamaru sighed.

"Today, you have battled against your fellow genin and showed your abilities to each other. We have allowed one month for you to train and learn new techniques for the final exams."

Temari stayed quiet. It made sense but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

Hiruzen continued. "The final exam will be a tournement." It didn't surprise the genin.

"But doesn't that mean there will only be one chunin?" Naruto asked. _It's obviously going to be me but what about Sakura? ...And the other one._

"Even if you were to lose in the first round, if we believe that you are worthy of chunin level then you will be promoted."

"So, the more times we battle, the higher the chance we have of becoming a chunin?" The female sand shinobi asked and the Third Hokage nodded.

"Please, pick a slip of paper from Anko. This will determine who you will be paired up with in the final exam."

"I'll come to you." Anko said, holding a box and going up to each genin.

The first round of the final exam was: Naruto Uzumaki VS Neji Hyuga.

The second was: Sasuke Uchiha VS Gaara.

The third was: Shino Aburame VS Kankuro.

The fourth was: Shikamaru Nara VS Dosu Kinuta

The fifth was: Temari VS Sakura Haruno.

The genin were dismissed and Sakura immediately started making plans for training while walking home with Naruto.

"We're going to have to ask Kakashi-sensei for training." Naruto said.

"You think he won't be training Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"He better not be!" The blond fumed.

"I think I'm going to train with my father." The pinkette said. "He should be back home from his mission."

The two friends eventually parted ways, promising to be stronger the next time they see each other. Sakura was sure Naruto and Sasuke would grow through the month, and she wasn't going to be left behind.

Sakura ran home from there. Pushing the door open, she screamed "Otou-san!"

Instead, her mother ran to her, offering a big hug which Sakura graciously accepted. No matter how much she complained about her parents, after something like the Forest of Death, she needed a hug.

"Tell us." Her mother urged once her father had come up to the door. Mebuki was smiling widely, as if she already knew.

"I'm made it to the final exam." Sakura said, feeling proud as she said so. Her mother engulfed her into another hug and her father joined. "And I can't breathe..." Sakura gasped for air, inwardly smiling.

"Sorry, I'm just so happy!" Mebuki suddenly pulled back. "Oh, wait. Are you hurt? Are you okay?" She began looking around Sakura's arms. "You're tired. Let's get you to bed." She deduced from analysing Sakura's eyes.

"Kaa-san-" Sakura began.

"No, I will not let you train. You are going straight to bed." Mebuki had put her foot down. Not even Kizashi could stop her.

Sakura tried anyway. "Otou-san..." She whined but he had already walked off to the kitchen for some instant ramen.

So, in the end, Sakura was forced to go to bed by her worry-wart of a mother and had to train the next day. _Well, if Kaa-san lets me._ Sakura thought sourly as Mebuki tucked her in.

In a last act of defiance, Sakura purposefully rolled off the bed.

The sun peeked through the windows as a certain cherry blossom was putting on some new clothes. Sakura decided to change up her look a bit. Not a drastic change, she still wore a red shirt with the Haruno clan symbol upon it but she now wore a black-sleeved shirt underneath, covering up her arms up to her wrist. Also, she now wore dark grey trousers.

The cherry blossom happily walked to the kitchen for breakfast.

"What's got you so happy?" Kizashi asked, not looking up from his food, as Sakura skipped into the kitchen. "And what's with the new look? You have never touched these clothes I got for you." Okay, so maybe he looked up from his breakfast for a split-second.

"Felt like wearing them." Sakura replied. "Eat up, we gotta a hell of a day today." The pinkette grabbed an apple.

"What do you mean?" Kizashi asked, confused.

Sakura was a very smart girl, but sometimes she could be extremely stupid.

"I forgot to ask..." Sakura blushed in embarassment. "I wanted you to train me for the final exam."

"You sure?" Her father asked.

"I think you need more rest." Mebuki had walked into the kitchen. "The Forest of Death is a difficult place to get through."

"We also had preliminary matches." Sakura regretted saying anything.

"What?!" The elder woman shrieked. "A prelimimary round? That hasn't happened in years! You need more rest!"

"Hm... Who did you fight?" Kizashi asked.

"...Ino." Sakura said. "And I'm up against a sand shinobi one month from now in the final exam. I need to train!"

"...Fine." Kizashi agreed as Mebuki angrily began cleaning the kitchen counter. "Now let me finish eating."

Sakura was ready for a tough, grueling training experience. So when her dad had her sit on the ground in the training field and meditate, she seriously questioned her recent choices.

"When are we-" Sakura began.

"Quiet!" Kizashi silenced his daughter.

They sat there for a few more minutes before Kizashi got up and started asking Sakura a few questions.

"You saw this... Temari?" He said her name unsurely. "Battle in the preliminaries, right?" Sakura nodded. "So, you saw her attacks?"

"Not much." Sakura said. "All I know is that she keeps a fan on her back and uses wind techniques."

"And you don't know any nature releases..." Kizashi put his hand under his chin, in deep thought.

"Actually, I do. Earth." Sakura caught her father of guard.

"Since when?" He asked, baffled.

"Uh... Before the first exam." The cherry blossom answered.

"Show me something then." Her father sat on the ground once again, waiting for her to WOW him.

"...Okay." Sakura began forming hand signs. _Earth style: Hiding Mole_ _Jutsu!_

The ground below Sakura turned into sand and she sunk below. Once she was underground, she moved around the training field and shot up put of the ground. Turns out, she had gone a bit too far and ended up jumping out of the ground where Neji and Tenten were training.

"Ahhh!" Tenten screamed once the jinchuriki broke out of the ground.

"Sorry." Sakura bowed her head and began to leave. The awkwardness between them annoyed her.

"I don't understand her." Tenten said to Neji as soon as Sakura had left.

"All of Team Seven are weird." Neji replied. "No wonder Kakashi is their sensei."

When Sakura got back to her father, he stood up and began clapping. "I didn't even see you come back up!" He laughed.

"So, what do we do?" Sakura asks. She was nervous. What kind of training would her dad put her through? Will it be enough for her to become chunin? Will she get more power?

"Well, fire beats wind so it would be good for you to learn a fire technique. But, it is extremely hard for genin to learn multiple, if not one, nature releases." Kizashi began thinking again. "Maybe we should start with this."

Sakura watched her father perform hand signs and a great wall made of mud shot up through the ground between her and Kizashi.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall." The pinkette's father said as he walked around it, to Sakura.

"Okay, lemme try." Sakura said.

"I have a mission tomorrow, so I'm going to get ready." Kizashi said.

"What?!" The cherry blossom shrieked, losing focus. "But your meant to be training me!"

"Hokage's orders." Kizashi shrugged and left in a poof.

 _Stupid Old Man._ Sakura didn't know if she meant the Third Hokage or her dad.

So, Sakura spent the rest of the day perfecting the mud wall jutsu without her father's help. It wasn't extremely hard for her. She just needed enough chakra so it wouldn't crumble.

 _It's getting easier for me to use more Earth Release Jutsus._ The kunoichi thought as her weighted boulders crashed into the mud wall but didn't break it.

Once she had perfected the jutus, she still wasn't ready to leave. Sakura's mind flashed to ger father's words about fire beating wind.

 _But he also said it's hard to learn multiple nature releases._

 **"Sakura-chan, I can help."** Kokuo said.

 _How?_ Sakura asked her new friend.

 **"I have two nature releases. Fire and water. Using my chakra, you can use a fire release attack."**

 _I can try._ _A fire style jutsu. We could use Sasuke-kun's._ Sakura tried remembering the hand signs and performed them as she recalled them. _Serpent, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse and Tiger._

The cherry blossom inhaled a lot of air. _Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!_ She blew out.

What happened was what Sakura would call pathetic. Instead of a schorching hot, orange flame, she produced a dull cloud of black smoke.

Sakura looked around her to see if anyone had seen. Luckily, no one had.

 _That was embarassing._

Once Sakura returned home, she had not yet mastered the jutsu. She would just have to continue tomorrow.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N Do you guys recommend any strong Sakura stories?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 12**

"Kaa-san..." The 16 year old boy sadly sighed.

"Tadashi, I'll be alright. You just need to leave. You know the plan?" She whispered the last part, looking around the front of her house, hoping no one was was in listening distance with them.

"Yes." A tear rolled down his face. "I'll protect her."

"Go! Before your father returns!"

 _What kind of flowers would they like?_ Sakura wondered as she walked throughout the Yamanaka Flower Shop. She planned to visit Lee and Sasuke in the hospital today and she wanted to get them something.

It was the day after her training with her dad. Kizashi was on his mission and wasn't due to return for a while. The cherry blossom would just have to make do.

"Huh, Sakura?" Said girl turned to the counter and saw Ino standing there.

"Ino...!" When Sakura would walk into this shop, usually Ino's mother was at the till. This was unexpected.

"Getting flowers for Sasuke-kun?" The blonde asked, giving Sakura a knowing smile. It seems as though Ino outwardly didn't have a grudge against Sakura after the preliminaries.

"And Lee-san." The pink-haired ninja replied.

The atmosphere dropped.

"You've heard what they said about him, right?" Ino asked, her voice melancholic.

"...He may not be able to carry on being a ninja."

The silence between the two showed how upsetting the situation was. A ninja may not be able to be a ninja. They didn't want to imagine themselves in Lee's shoes.

Ino walked beside Sakura and picked out four of the same flowers. Handing two over to Sakura, the two rivals made their way to the hospital, not uttering a word to each other until they got there.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto hugged his teammate as he saw her in the hospital.

The amount of hugs Sakura recently received from her teammate was astounding. But she found them comforting and that was what mattered.

"Are you here to visit Sasuke-kun?" The cherry blossom asked. Naruto nodded.

"I already did." He said. "Guy's asleep." The blond ninja was about to say more but he caught the sight of his sensei in the corner of his eye.

"Kakashi-sensei!" He yelled, running over to said jonin and Sakura follwed.

"Naruto, this is a hospital." The silver-haired man groaned. "Don't you think you should be a little quieter?"

"You need to train me for the final exam, believe it!" The host of the kyuubi pointed at his teacher.

"I'm sorry, I can't." Kakashi shrugged. "But I found a qualified replacement."

Another man walked up to the trio and introduced himself. "Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki. My name is Ebisu."

"Hel-" Naruto cut Sakura off.

"You closet pervert!" The unpredictable ninja yelled once again. "I totally got this guy with my sexy jutsu!"

"...Sexy Jutsu?" Sakura said aloud. She remembered it from the academy. It seemed to be the only thing Naruto could transform perfectly into.

 _That's not right..._

"Hey, Naruto?" Sakura caught his attention. "You don't still... use that jutsu, right?"

Naruto had to tread carefully. One wrong move and he would not be able to make it to tomorrow, nevermind the final exam.

"Uh..." He was having difficulty answering and a vein became clearly visible on Sakura's forehead. "Not when I don't have to."

 _Wrong answer._

"Shannaro!" The pinkette was about to slam her teammate into the ground but she noticed that their sensei was no longer there. "Where is Kakashi-sensei?" She paused, with her fist over a terrified Naruto.

"That doesn't matter." Ebisu pushed up his glasses. "We need to begin our training." He looked at Sakura and Naruto.

"Not me." The pinkette said. "I've been training with my father."

"Well, then, I guess it's just you and me." He turned to the blond.

"No way!" Naruto ran out of the hospital. With a sigh, Ebisu chased after him.

"They're weird." Ino said, walking back up to Sakura. "I've got their room numbers. We should see Lee first."

Sakura half expected to see Gai-sensei in Lee's room, but she didn't expect the room to be empty.

"W-what?" Ino spluttered, looking around the small room.

"The receptionist wouldn't tell you that they had a patient when they didn't, so..." Sakura observed the open window and peeked out of it.

There, on the ground, Rock Lee was doing one finger push-ups. The girls jumped out of the window and ran up to him. Just as they did, a nurse had run up to him as well.

"Rock Lee! Go back to your room at once!" She commanded. The bushy browed boy ignored her and continued counting.

"91, 92, 93..." He carried on until he got stuck at 97.

"Lee-san..." Sakura said but was ignored. No one made a move to stop him but the nurse continued scolding him.

"No!" Lee cried as the nurse came closer to him, startling her. "98..." He paused above the ground, not wanting to fall. "99.." Moments after, he collapsed.

Two doctors ran out to the four people and took Lee back into the hospital.

Ino and Sakura decided to put the flowers in a glass by Lee's bed. Once Lee woke up, he wondered who left them there for him.

"Now..." Sakura slightly blushed. "Where's Sasuke-kun's room?"

"Down here." They walked through the hall and went into the room which should've contained Sasuke Uchiha.

But it was empty.

"Again?!" Sakura cried. She looked out of the window, but he wasn't there.

"Today just isn't our day." Ino sighed. The girls reported that he was no longer there and many nurses searched the hospital.

"You know..." Sakura started. "I kinda expected Kakashi-sensei to take him somewhere to train. Especially after he said that he couldn't train Naruto."

At the end of their hospital adventure, the two kunoichi walked dejectedly through the Konoha Market.

"Alright!" Ino yelled. "I'm in the mood for some dumplings from the Amaguriama!"

Sakura was about to wave goodbye but was shocked once Ino grabbed her hand and dragged her to her favourite place in the Leaf Village.

"They're not as sweet as they used to be..." Sakura said as the rivals were eating their dumplings.

"They changed them a while back." The blonde girl said as she continued to eat. "Hm... I didn's even notice your new look." Ino said.

"Oh?" Sakura looked down at herself. "It's much easier to be a ninja in these." She smiled.

"Yeah..." Their conversation died out.

Even so, Sakura continued talking after a bit if silence. "I haven't been here since right after we became genin." _When I was useless as fuck._ "So much has changed."

"Yeah." The Team Ten kunoichi sighed. "You're about to become a chunin, I have my first B-Rank mission in a few days..." Ino stretched her arms.

"The final exams aren't for a while. I have no idea how strong the others could get."

"Well," Ino stood up. "I think you're pretty strong now." She looked away. "I mean, you beat me. So I expect you to win."

"Ino..." Sakura was touched. A girl whom she admired at a young age, and had beaten two days prior, actually complimeted her.

"On second thought, Sasuke-kun's in the final round too... And that weird one who beat Hinata. Maybe you'll come third."

Sakura still took it as a compliment.

In the night, Jiraiya stood on top of Naruto's apartment building and Ebisu soon joined him.

"I am sorry I took your student." The toad sage said, not at all seeming apologetic.

"I'm surprised. The Third Hokage would be pleased at your return."

"Have you told him?" Jiraiya asked. Ebisu shook his head. "Let's keep it that way."

"What? Then why have you come back? Is it to do with Orochimaru?"

"No. I came here for inspiration for my novels."

"You came back for something as trivial as that?" To be honest, Ebisu didn't think the novels were "trivial"...

"And also, word has gotten around about Konoha having the Gobi." The sannin eyed Ebisu, signalling for him to tell him more.

The special jonin sighed. "Her name is Sakura Haruno."

"I know." Jiraiya replied. "That has gotten around too."

"What? How would people get word of her name?"

"I don't know."

"Well," Ebisu continued. "Sakura is in the same team as Naruto and Sasuke Uchiha."

Jiraiya laughed. "That's going to be a hell of a team."

"And the beast was sealed within her while she was on a mission with her father to the Land of Earth."

The two didn't speak after that until the toad sage stood to leave. "I'll be continuing Naruto's training from now." With that, he left.

For the next few days, the pinkette continued training on her own. She trained the jutsus that were already in her arsenal so they wouldn't take much of a strain on her and she perfected the Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu.

The struggle she was having was with Water Release.

Kokuo may have water chakra but it was still difficult for Sakura to harness it.

"Argh!" The kunoichi angrily punched the air after only a trickle of water shot out of her mouth. "Why is this so hard?!" She screamed.

 **"Maybe we should delay learning Water Release for now?"** Kokuo suggested. **"We need to figure out a plan for the battle against the Sand Shinobi."**

"That fan is going to make everything so difficult." The cherry blosson sat on the ground, cross-legged. "I need to get it off of her..."

 **"She'll be useless without it."**

"I know the feeling." It surprised Sakura that she could actually hear the Gobi sigh.

 **"That kind of attitude will not make you a chunin.** **Don't roll your eyes at me!"** Sakura flinched at the five-tails' raised voice.

"Sorry."

Silence swayed on the training grounds as both women thought about their upcoming match. Suddenly, an idea struck Sakura.

"Maybe I should learn Wind Release!" She exclaimed.

 **"Why?"** Kokuo asked, confused.

"So, once I get Temari's fan, I can use it against her."

 **"Okay. But what about actually getting the fan?"** The beast questioned.

"The Hiding Mole Jutsu will help with that." Sakura felt a big, bright fire burst within her as she pictured winning the match. Temari on the ground while begging for mercy, the Third Hokage promoting her to chunin and Naruto and Sasuke giving her the title of strongest ninja in Team Seven.

 **"One problem."** Her fantasy was ruined by her friend's next words. **"It'll be even harder for you to learn Wind Release than to learn Water Release."**

"Otou-san knows Wind Release. He can help." Sakura replied.

"Eh... Sakura-san?" The familar voice snapped her focus to three ninja. Shikamaru, Chouji and Asuma stood on the training grounds, staring at the Team Seven ninja oddly.

 _How long have they been there?_ Sakura asked herself. _Here I've been talking to myself, forgetting that anyone can hear me. Stupid Sakura!_

"Uh... Yeah?" The pink-haired kunoichi replied, nervously smiling.

"Nothing..." Asuma said and he walked off with the two members of his team.

Often, at night, Sakura slept dreamless sleeps. But sometimes she would have nightmares. A grey version of herself would stand on top of Konoha's gate, staring down at the village below. Red bubbles would spread around her as well as red and blue balls of chakra.

The balls of chakra would combine and make a purple sphere. Grey Sakura would aim the sphere at the village.

That's when Sakura would wake up.

Today was one of the days she would have that nightmare.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 13**

Lighting sparkled in the air and then angrily smashed into the side of the boulder. Sasuke fell to the ground, drained of his chakra. But at least he had finally been able to use the Chidori.

"This has taken you a lot longer than I would've thought." A certain silver-haired jonin said. "Something been on your mind lately?"

Sasuke would've asked before. However, it was embarassing.

"It's Sakura." The Uchiha answered, his teeth clenched.

"Oh." Kakashi placed his hand under his chin. "Okay then." The jonin sat on the dusty ground. "Well, there are these birds and these bees-" Sasuke interrupted his sensei.

"I don't need you to have 'the talk' with me!" He looked completely and utterly disgusted. "It's about the mission you saved her on..." The survivor crossed his arms over his chest and looked away, finding the smashed boulder extremely interresting. "She's been acting different. And it's annoying."

"Acting different? How so?" The jonin questioned.

"More..." The Uchiha couldn't quite place how she was acting so different. Why did he notice it when he didn't even know what it was? "Different."

Kakashi sighed. "Some things happened." He chose to say. "I'm not allowed to tell you. But she's been dealing with it since that mission."

"Why can't you tell me?" Sasuke asked.

"Hokage's orders." Maybe he shouldn't have said that. He could hear the cogs turning in Sasuke's brain, trying to figure out what the Third Hokage would want to hide about Sakura.

"If we're a team," It physically hurt him to say the word (but for some reason, mentally calmed him). "Then don't you think Naruto and I should know what's going on with her?"

"Don't worry about her so much, Sasuke." His sensei smiled. "She'll let you know when she's ready."

"I don't worry about her!" He was quick to deny it. "Her attitude is just... annoying me."

"Her attitude?" Kakashi questioned. "I thought the most annoying thing about her for you is how much more she has improved. More than you."

That was enough to have Sasuke form the chidori and smash another boulder.

Above the Hokages' faces, Hiruzen stood with another Leaf ninja.

"Are you not afraid, Hokage-sama?" The man asked. "She could go balistic and destroy the village. You told us that her seal is weaker than the Kyuubi's!"

"Then what do you suppose we do?" The older man asked, staring over the village. An unsettling image crosses through his mind of the destruction of Konohagakure due to two giant beasts.

"Unseal the beast and contain it within... somewhere that is not a person and can contain it. The same with the fox too."

"Akihiko, are you suggesting that I let two innocent children die?" Hiruzen questioned the chunin.

"In exchange for the entire village. That seems like a good trade."

"But what if the ninja are able to contain the beasts. Even bond with them."

"You're putting the village in danger off of a 'what if'!" Akihiko shouted. "More people could die. The children, the parents, our families."

"I believe that Sakura and Naruto will be able to contain the beasts within themselves. We will not end the lives of two people just because they were unwillingly chosen to be the host to these beasts."

Akihiko didn't reply. Instead he left, cursing under his breath about the old man and how he couldn't run a village.

"I should try and get some sleep." Sakura said to herself as she sat on her balcony in the night.

Looking out onto the ground below her, Sakura observed the people who were still walking about. Some men were at a bar that was near her house (Every time her mother caught her looking at it, she would get a lecture), some people were eating in the restaurants that were open in the night - Sakira thought of Naruto in Ichiraku when thinking of this - and other people were rushing home.

This night's nightmare featured her Grey self killing a Leaf ninja. She didn't know who, it was a black figure but she noticed the Konoha headband.

 **"Sakura-chan, it isn't real."** Kokuo said, her voice soothing the cherry blossom. **"You should get some rest. Your father said you were going to get up bright and early for training."**

Sakura walked back into her bed and, this time, slept a dreamless sleep.

"You want me to practice with this?" Sakura asked her father while holding a small fan. It was a fan that her mother used while sitting on the couch on a hot day.

The father and daughter were currently at the Training Grounds, trying to teach Sakura Wind Release.

"It'a fan. So same thing." Kizashi replied, fanning himself with his own. "Anyway, I'm going to teach you the technique _Wind Style: Great Cast Net._ "

Kizashi readied his fan, eyes on a tree infront of him. He focused his chakra into the fan but then, he dropped his fan.

"Maybe I should teach you the basics of Wind Release first." He said, making his hands into fists and placing them on his hips. He looked at his daughter expectantly.

"Okay...?" Sakura dropped her fan too and copied her father's pose.

"People with wind chakra use it as a blade of some sorts. They can transfer chakra to their hand, or to another object, and it will become a chakra blade. If transferred into a kunai, the kunai will become more... What's the word?" Kizashi put his hand under his chin, in deep thought.

"Don't worry, Otou-san. I understand." Sakura said after a few moments of her father pondering over the right word.

"I might as well show you." The jonin grabbed a kunai and aimed it at the tree he had previously aimed his fan at.

Sakura saw blue chakra surround her father's kunai and he threw it at the tree. It sliced straight through the wood and hit the ground on the other side.

Sakura grabbed her own kunai and focused her chakra to it. It seemed as though her eyes were playing tricks on her because the chakra that surrounded the kunai looked red for a split second. Even so, blue chakra danced around the ninja tool and Sakura aimed it at the same tree her father threw his at. When she thought it was ready, she threw it.

Sakura expected it to just land on the tree, but instead, it went straight through the wood and landed on the ground just like her father's had.

"Did you see that?! I did it!" Shocked and elated, the pinkette started jumping on the spot. She repeated "I did it!" over and over again until her father stopped her.

"So, Sakura. It seems you have Wind and Earth Chakra." Her father smiled at her.

 _Four nature releases... Wow._ She included Kokuo's.

"Okay!" Kizashi exclaimed. "Let's try it with the fans now!"

Throughout the days until the final exam, Sakura continued training with her father. She didn't see Naruto at all except once where he gushed over her new outfit and was a stuttering mess.

She was finaly able to master two Wind Release Jutsus as well as strengthening her Earth Release arsenal. And, of course, she perfected her Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu.

This month had been a success for her. Sakura wasn't entirely confident that she would become chunin but she did believe that she had a chance, and that was good enough for her.

For some reason, Sakura tied her Konoha headband around her neck, replacing it with a ribbon in her hair. Not just any ribbon though. The red ribbon Ino had given her the day after they met.

The pinkette believed that she was showing a sign. That she was now a ninja (that didn't want to hide her forehead).

Sakura contemplated wearing black gloves to go with her black sleeves but she decided against it... For now.

 _Alright! Let's go!_

"Kaa-san, Otou-san! I'm leaving!" Sakura yelled and she ran out of the house before her mother and father would offer to walk with her to the exam stadium.

"I wonder what Temari expects of me..." Sakura wondered aloud. "I bet she's not thinking that I'll use her own weapon against her."

 _Why am I so nervous?_ Sakura asked Kokuo.

 **"Well, there's going to be a lot of people there..."** The Gobi responded.

 _Not helping._

 **"It wasn't meant to."** Kokuo laughed, the sound of a light chuckle shook through Sakura's body. **"Sakura-chan, you are going to be fine. Stop worring so much."**

"Fine..." Sakura grumbled.

"Freak!" Sakura's attention snapped to the voice. A woman was staring at the cherry blossom. Sakura couldn't place the emotion on the woman's face. It seemed to be a mix of fear, disgust and horror.

"Stop it!" An elder woman grabbed onto the lady and dragged her away, eyeing Sakura as she did so. People in the street stared at Sakura. Some people were confused, some were mad and others looked down-right disgusted.

 _Was that... aimed at me?_ Sakura asked herself. She concluded that it was, why else were people staring at her after that? The cherry blossom was confused as to why someone would be so rude and call her a freak.

In the end, Sakura decided to ignore it, but it still irritated her in the back of her mind.

She stood alongside six other genin (and their new proctor. Sakura didn't know his name or rank). The only genin ninja who had showed up so far were the Sand ninja, Neji Hyuuga, Shikamaru Nara, Shino Aburame and, of course, Sakura.

 _Where's Naruro?_ The pinkette wondered, trying to ignore the crowd of people. _Uh- How could I forget about Sasuke-kun?_ _I haven't seen him since the preliminaries..._

"I'm here!" The loud cry came from Naruto as he flew in from out of no where. Sakura decided not to ask.

The only people missing were Dosu and Sasuke. After waiting a few moments, their proctor showed them the tournement battles.

Sakura surveyed that Shikamaru was no longer battling Dosu, and was actually up against Temari. The winner would battle against her. _It seems as though Dosu cancelled or something...?_ _Where's Sasuke-kun then? He's still up against Gaara._

Realisation dawned on her. _Wait! If Shikamaru wins, I have no idea how to face him. You lazy son of a dog, you better lose!_

Sakura was too busy with her thoughts that she didn't notice herself walking over to the waiting area with the other genin. "The first match..." The proctor, Genma Shiranui, announced. "Naruto Uzumaki VS Neji Hyuuga! Begin!"


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 14**

Never in her life had Sakura been as shocked, astounded, joyful and downright confused in her life more than now. Shocked because of what her good friend and teammate had just revealed.

Naruto Uzumaki had just defeated Neji Hyuuga at the chunin exams by using an "unknown" technique where he surrounded himself with red chakra. A red chakra that Sakura knew all too well.

 _No way... Now way Naruto is..._ Sakura remembered that the host to the nine-tails was in the Leaf Village since Kakashi had mentioned it to her. _It cannot be Naruto..._ _Kakashi-sensei would have told me if it was Naruto, right?_

 **"Yes, I was right!"** Kokuo's voice boomed through Sakura's head. **"That's Kurama- The nine-tailed beast. I thought so in the Forest of Death."**

 _And you didn't tell me?!_ Sakura shrieked.

 **"You didn't ask."**

Sakura would have to have a word with Naruto after all of this was done.

Since Sasuke had not arrived in time, his match with Gaara would occur after the other matches were done. _Well, only if he arrives at all._

The next match was over quickly as Kankuro had given up, making Shino the winner. So, Temari and Shikamaru made their way onto the battlefield.

Sakura tried to pay attention to the match but her focus was diverted to her thoughts of Naruto or Naruto's incredibly loud voice, gloating about his win.

"Sasuke-teme better get here and win so I can kick his ass!" Naruto yelled. "Sakura-chan, do you know where he is?" The blond asked his teammate.

"I haven't seen him since the preliminary round." The pinkette replied.

"What?! Not even at the hospital?"

"He wasn't there..."

Two men walked into the stadium and sat with the rest of the crowd. Lee, who was sitting in between Tenten and his sensei, observed the match going on, trying to ignore the shame when he looked at his injuries from a month prior. Gai did the same.

"Go Shikamaru!" Ino yelled from within the crowd. Chouji continued eating his chips.

"He's going to give up." The boy said to his female teammate. "Just wait."

"Why would Shikamaru give up on becoming chunin?" Ino asked, punching her fist into the air. "Go Shikamaru!"

"Did you see Sakura-san? She looks really different." The chubby boy said.

"Yeah." The blonde replied. "I wonder why she decided to change up her look." _And she's wearing the ribbon I gave her years ago..._

"When is she going to fight? Do you think she's hungry? Why did she skip out on breakfast? She knows that she needs to have three meals a day with fruit snacks in between!"

Kizashi sighed as his wife constantly asked questions about their daughter - who was probably fine. Mebuki continued asking questions about Sakura's well-being even though her husband just couldn't answer.

At the end of the match, Shikamari had given up, making Temari the winner. Sakura was glad as it did seem as though Temari would lose, which Sakura was hoping wasn't the case.

"The next match is Temari VS Sakura Haruno!" Genma announced to the audience.

Temari smirked. She hadn't lost much chakra in her fight against Shikamaru. _This is going to be easier than fighting the tool girl._

"Good luck, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said to his teammate. He was still awfully happy because of his win, believing that he had done enough to become chunin (if not that, then hokage).

Sakura walked onto the battlefield and her breath hitched when she saw the crowd. _How do people do this?_

 **"Breathe, Sakura-chan."** Kokuo tried to calm the girl down.

"You may begin now!" Genma shouted, catching Sakura off guard.

Temari quickly swept her fan to the side, hurling an attack at Sakura. The cherry blossom panicked and stupidly put her arms up to protect herself. The furious blast of wind collided into her body and sent her flying onto the ground.

The crowd cheered. Mebuki held Kizashi's hand, crushing it as she did so. Said man didn't say anything as he was worried about his daughter too.

"This isn't going off to a great start." Chouji remarked.

"Quiet, Fatso!" Ino yelled at him, her eyes glued to the battle going on infront of her.

"Come on, Sakura-san." Tenten said beside Lee. She wanted to see that bitch from the sand go down and Shikamaru did a terrible job of that, giving up when he had her in the right spot.

Lee didn't say anything and only watched on.

 _Goddammit!_ Sakura stood up and brushed the dirt off of her clothes. _If she tries that again..._ It seemed as though her fear had now gone and she was ready to fight.

"Still want to keep fighting?" Temari asked. She then swept her fan to the other side, sending the same blast of wind at her opponent.

Sakura was ready though.

The wind slammed into the mud wall created by the pinkette. It was enough to break it but Sakura wasn't on the other side.

Temari knew where she was. The sand kunoichi was weary of the ground, remembering Sakura's match from the preliminary round.

The cherry blossom jumped up from the ground and proceeded to take Temari's fan, but the girl evaded by jumping back.

Sakura attacked quickly. Forming hand signs, she performed the Wind Style: Deep Breath Jutsu.

A blast of wind left her lungs and was aimed at the retreating figure of Temari. It slammed into her body and she smacked into the stadium's wall.

"Ah! Did you teach her that?" Mebuki questioned her husband. The man smiled as a reply.

The sand kunoichi stood up as fast as she could and placed her fan in between the other girl, much like she had done with Shikamaru, so it hid her.

Sakura had a feeling that she knew what Temari was going to do. Forming another mud wall, Sakura produced one cherry blossom clone and the clone jumped onto of it.

Temari, leaving her fan behind, ran at the clone, to which the clone responded by throwing a shuriken at her. With a poof, the Temari clone was gone and the real Temari swept her fan downwards so an even larger blast of wind was thrown at Sakura.

It collided with Clone Sakura and the mud wall but Sakura was already below the ground, using her hiding mole jutsu once again. Breaking out of the ground, she ran at Temari and tried infusing chakra into her fist.

But a poof between the girls stopped them from attacking.

Kakashi and Sasuke stood right in the middle of the battlefield, interrupting the match.

"W-what?" Sakura stuttered as her fist was an inch away from hitting Sasuke in the face. The pink-haired girl jumped a bit back and stared at the Uchiha survivor. It was the first time she was seeing Sasuke since the preliminary matches and he looked different.

His hair was longer, his clothes were black and... that was about it.

However, Sasuke was even more shocked about Sakura. The most noticable difference was her black sleeves and leggings but she also now wore her headband around her neck.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Kakashi spoke. "Did we interrupt something?" He looked around them, seeing a fuming sand ninja and a confused pinkette.

Sasuke left the battlefield and joined the other genin as Kakashi went into the stands.

"Sorry." Genma said to the girls. "You may resume your match."

 _Get the fan!_ Sakura formed two clones and let them attck Temari who quickly disposed of them by hitting them with her closed fan.

Opening it up, she used a jutsu Sakura didn't know.

She performed the necessary hand signs. _Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!_

A large ball of orange and red flames came out of her mouth and connected with Temari's wind attack.

"How the hell does she know that?!" Sasuke asked himself, shocked. Naruto replied anyway.

"Hers is even better than yours."

"Shut up, Dobe."

The flame grew bigger against Temari's wind and flew at her, conquering the wind attack.

Temari jumped up to evade and Sakura followed her. The girls punched each other, Sakura's more effective.

Temari flew to the ground, accidentally letting go of her fan. The cherry blossom quickly obtained it, succeeding in her plan.

Temari stood up, shaking. She couldn't believe that she was **_losing_** against this random weak girl. _How much luck can this girl have?_

"What even are you without this fan?" Sakura asked, feeling the need to taunt.

"You think you're all tough for taking the fan. You don't think I had a plan if anyone took it?" Temari formed a hand sign that Sakura wasn't familiar with.

Nothing happened as they waited for whatever was up Temari's sleeve. The sand girl started sweating but that was the only action Sakura had seen before she deciphered what Temari was doing.

"You're bluffing." Sakura concluded.

"N-no, I'm not!" Temari yelled, defensively. The cherry blossom smirked.

"You know what's even worse than having your main weapon taken?" Sakura opened up the fan. "Having it used against you."

 _Wind Style: Great Cast Net_

She swung the fan to the side as a slice of wind ran towards Temari. The sand kunoichi didn't know how to react as she had not been in this predicament before.

Just like Sakura had done in the beginning of the match, she threw her hands up to protect herself as the slice of wind hit the ground below her.

Smoke filled the arena and, once it cleared, Temari was on the ground - unconscious.

"The winner is Sakura Haruno." Genma said.

The stadium cheered for the pinkette.

"Kizashi, she won! She really won! I knew she would!" Mebuki was shaking her husband before planting a big wet one upon his lips.

"Yeah! Go Sakura!" Ino yelled as Chouji continued eating.

"Yes!" Tenten clapped her hands.

"I knew Sakura-san would win!" Lee exclaimed.

"Well, Kakashi." Gai said to his eternal rival. "You have two of your genin in the next round. Do you think it will be three?"

"Obviously. They're my students." The jonin of Team Seven replied but his mind was elsewhere.

Sakura didn't even need to move from the spot on the battlefield before Naruro jumped out of the stand where the rest of the genin were and hugged his teammate.

"Sakura-chan, I knew you would win!" He squeezed her tighter.

Back with the other genin, Sasuke was confused.

"What the hell are they?" The Uchiha heard Kankuro say. He didn't know who the other part of 'they' was, but he indeed knew the sand shinobi was talking about Sakura.

Just before Sakura had used the jutsu with the fan, everyone saw it. The fan had red aura surrounding it.

Kizashi was still currently being shook by his wife but his eye caught Kakashi's. Shaking his head at the silver-haired man, he told him that he didn't know Sakura was able to do that.

The cherry blossom walked back up to the other genin along with Naruto. They heard some people talking in the dark hallway.

"The kid's got the beast inside of him."

Sakura froze as did Naruto.

"Yeah, but these are orders." The Team Seven members glanced at each other before they heard footsteps coming from within the hall.

"Gaara." Someone said. "We were told to tell you to lose the match." There was no reply.

The screaming began.

Sakura and Naruto flinched and then they saw Gaara walking towards them. The sand ninja simply walked down the stairs, ignoring the other jinchuriki.

Both ninja were thinking the same thing. _He's just like me..._

 **"Shukaku."** Kokuo said to Sakura as she began walking back to the view point. **"The Ichibi."**

The teammates walked through the hall but they didn't see any reminants of the other people.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura said once she got to the stand, attempting to greet him. The Uchiha just walked away. "Uh-"

 _Not even a damn congratulations on winning my match? I guess that's too much to ask for._

The match had begun.

Sakura noticed that Sasuke was much faster and his fighting resembled that of Lee.

And, of course, he could now make lighting sparkle out of his hands.

Sakura had a weird feeling once Gaara formed a ball of sand around himself. She brushed it off, thinking she was on edge after discovering two people who were just like her.

Now she hoped Sasuke would be okay after a giant hand made of sand shot out of the sphere, pushing Sasuke backwards.

For some reason, Gaara began screaming. Sakura could only hear the word 'blood.'

"Kankuro!" Temari ran to her brother. She had gotten out of the room where she was taken to after her match. The sand siblings jumped out to their brother and tried to get away. Sasuke ran after them.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked Naruto. Before the blond could reply, an explosion was heard by the tower where the Hokage was.

The destruction of the Hidden Leaf Village had begun.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N** **I just wanted to say thank you so so so much for 30 reviews. It means a lot.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 15**

Sakura stood on water in a sewer. She didn't know why or how she was here but she felt a disturbing presence. Sensing someone behind her, she quickly turned but was met with a giant cage.

A voice spoke to her from within it. **"Sakura-chan!"** It was Kokuo. **"It's genjutsu! Break free of it!"**

Sakura made a hand sign and, shouting out "Kai!", was able to wake up. She saw that the other genin around her were still asleep as were the audience.

She heard another explosion. _What's going on?_ Sakura began to panic. I _have to wake up Naruto_ _quickly._ _Dispel the genjutsu!_

She released Naruto from the genjutsu and the ninja stood up, looking left and right. Scratching his head, he was about to speak but was interrupted by another explosion.

"We have to get to Kakashi-sensei." Sakira said and the blond agreed. The two were about to jump out onto the stadium's field but Naruto accidentally stepped on Shikamaru who yelled.

"Ow!" The lazy boy sat up, rubbing his ankle wjich was where Naruto had stepped on him.

"You're awake?" Sakura asked him. Before he could say a thing, the pinkette grabbed onto him and pushed him onto the battlefield, jumping with Naruto right after.

The three genin ran into the stands but were met with the sight of multiple jonin fighting sand and sound ninja, trying to protect those who were still under the genjutsu. The three genin looked at the multiple people who were sleeping in their seats as sound and sand ninja battled with leaf ninja around them.

"Sakura!" Mebuki shouted, seeing her daughter. She used Water Release to knock back a sound ninja away before running to her daughter.

The mother hugged the cherry blossom as Kakashi retreated back to them. The pinkette crouched along with Naruto and Shikamaru.

"I need you three to go after Sasuke." He said, throwing multiple shuriken at multiple ninja. Kizashi, Gai and Mebuki also did so. "He went after Gaara. I need you to stop him and stay somewhere safe until all of this is over."

"Sensei, do you not think we should get a bigger group?" Naruto asked.

"No, a bigger group will draw more attention." Kakashi replied.

"How are we going to find him?" Shikamaru asked, berating himself for waking up this morning.

The Team Seven Sensei drew blood on his finger with his kunai and summoned a ninja hound. "Pakkun, take them to Sasuke."

"We're taking this little doggy?" Sakura asked, slightly confused. The pup jumped over to her and looked her right in the eye.

"Do NOT call me cute." He said.

 _I didn't._ Sakura thought sourly.

"Guys," Kakashi began. "Get ready for your first A rank mission since the Land of Waves."

"Sakura..." Mebuki looked at the girl.

"I'll be fine." The pink-haired kinoichi reassured her mother. She looked at Naruto and Shikamaru. "Let's go!" They nodded but an enemy ninja jumped behind Naruto, readying to attack.

However, Gai punched him through a wall. Sakura and the others jumped out of the hole, following Pakkun to get to Sasuke.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Gai asked his rival.

"Yes. As long as they don't pursue Sasuke too far."

In the corner of the stands, Shino had heard everything and quickly, using his insects, pursued Sasuke.

The three genin had followed the ninja dog into the Hidden Leaf Forest. Sakura was wondering why the Sand and Sound had teamed up to destroy the Leaf.

And why was it now of all times? Why during the Chunin Exams?

 _Well, it does seem like a good opportunity because there are shinobi from different villages in our village._

As they followed Pakkun, Sakura heard some explosions going off quite far away from where they were. The cherry blossom hoped everyone was okay. She also hoped that her parents, along with her sensei, were able to hold off the enemy ninja back at the stadium.

"Why are we even following them...?" Shikamaru groaned.

"You idiot!" Naruto yelled at him. "After everything that is going on right now, you still think this is a drag?!"

"I never said that." The lazy boy replied. "But yeah, it is."

"Quickly." The pinkette said to the boys before Naruto could throw some curses at Shikamaru. "Pakkun, are we close?" She asked.

"Uhh..." It took a while for the ninja hound to respond. "Kind of..."

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"We have an interruption." Pakkun said. "Enemy ninja." He stopped, as did the genin.

"Let's take 'em on, I'm raring to go!" Naruto said, getting ready to jump to another branch.

"Stop." Kakashi's pup said to him. "There's a lot of them. You can't take them on with just the three of you."

"What did you say?!"

"He's right." The pink-haired girl stopped Naruto from pouncing on the dog. "What do we do?"

"We need someone to stay behind and let the others get away to Sasuke." Shikamaru planned. "But the person to stay... will most likely die."

Everyone went silent and the only sounds heard were the faint explosions and cries from the village centre. Sakura, Naruto and Shikamaru looked at each other. "I'll do it." The three of them said together.

"This isn't going to get us anywhere..." Pakkun sighed, hoping for the day to end so he could stretch his paws and go to sleep.

"Guys, you go ahead to Sasuke-kun. I can handle them." Sakura commanded to the boys.

"No way!" Naruto shouted. "I'll do it and you two go on ahead!"

"I'll do it." Shikamaru's arguement was weak until he said "I can delay them with my Shadow Possesion Jutsu." The jinchuriki turned their heads to the Team Ten genin. "You guys go to Sasuke. I have no business there."

Reluctantly, the two ninja agreed.

"We need to hurry." Sakura announced as her, Naruto and Pakkun were racing to the final genin of Team Seven.

"I feel their chakras." The ninja hound announced.

"I see them!" Naruto shouted, jumping forward at the scene. However, Sakura slowed down. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

 _What is that?_ Sakura thought while staring at Gaara who had grown his arm into that of the Shukaku and also had a tail made out of sand.

 **"Oh no. He's transforming into Shukaku!"** Kokuo said. **"This is bad!"**

The Uchiha couldn't move and braced for impact when Gaara came charging at him. He had used three chidoris that day and two was supposed to be his limit. The curse seal helped him, although he didn't want to admit it. Suddenly, he felt his body being grabbed and dragged away.

"Who are you?!" Naruto shouted at Gaara after saving Sasuke, not recognising the other jinchuriki. "Wait." It seemed as though something had clicked. "You're the guy who Sasuke was fighting in the final round!"

 _How the hell did I get saved by this Dobe?_ Sasuke thought sourly.

 _Uh... Naruto, our mission was to get Sasuke who was pursuing Gaara..._ Sakura thought, wondering if the blond idiot had actually listened to their sensei.

"Naruto! He's too strong, we need to get away!" Sasuke yelled. Normally, Naruto would yell back some curse words but what the snob was saying was actually a good idea right now, especially after the blond's revelation about Gaara and the entity within the red-headed boy.

But Gaara wouldn't let them leave. Stretching his arm out, he attempted to punch Naruto away and succeeded. The nine-tail host was blown back, caught by surprise by the quick attack. After his attack, Gaara charged at Sasuke once again.

A devilish smile crossed over his face as he was in the air. Gaara couldn't wait to see a dead Sasuke Uchiha on the ground. The red-haired genin was pondering over killing the Uchiha quickly or letting him suffer.

But a certain pinkette wasn't having it.

"Shannaro, bitch!"

Sakura infused chakra into her fist and did her favourite thing in the world: Punching a boy in the cheek and sending him flying back.

The punch didn't really send Gaara flying back, it pushed him a branch or two away and severely irritated him. The sandy arm grew across his face even more. He raised his hand and punched up, hitting a sneaky Naruto in the stomache. With a poof, the clone was gone.

Multuple more jumped out from the shadows and a barrage of orange and yellow filled Sakura's eyes.

 _Naruto can really make a lot of shadow clones... We can't get left behind!_ Sakura formed her cherry blossom clones and they ran forward into the mess of battle. But the real Sakura decided to stay with an injured Sasuke to make sure the monster wouldn't attack him.

"You can go." Sasuke said, shakily standing up and leaning against a tree. "I'll be fine."

The cherry blossom was about to argue but she took a look at hers and Naruto's clones being demolished and agreed.

Forcing chakra into her feet, Sakura sped over to the fight, nervous about her opponent.

Kokuo, however, was mad.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 16**

Sakura had seen a lot of things during her lifetime but seeing a man summon a frog wasn't one of them.

Naruto made a red toad appear out of no where. He seemed to be disappointed once he did so but Sakura wasn't really focusing on that. She was focusing on the boy you could quite accurately call a monster.

 **"Avoid him!"** Sakura jumped out of the way from Gaara's attack on Kokuo's command. The claw the red-haired boy had grown slammed into a branch, breaking it while the pieces flew around. The pinkette jumped back multiple times to put distance between herself and Gaara - who was laughig disturbingly.

Kokuo was quite mad at their predicament. What was Shikaku thinking, helping an invasion?

 **Well, he always liked to fight.** Kokuo thought. But this was a fight between three jinchuriki and could become dangerous if Gaara were to fully transform. Heck, it was already dangerous.

"Naruro Uzumaki." Gaara growled. "Now you die!" With a shout, sand shuriken sprayed out of the boy, aimed at Naruto.

"On it!" Sakura yelled, creating a mud wall to protect herself, Naruto, Sasuke (who was leaning near a tree behind them) and even the red toad - who was apparently called Gamakichi.

"Nice!" Naruto shouted, creating even more clones to attack Gaara but they were easily destroyed. "One more time!" Naruto tried the summoning jutsu again but, this time, a small yellow toad was summoned.

"Where's Gamakichi?" Was it's first words. It looked around and scratched its head before it sighted the red toad and hopped over to it.

"Where the hell is Chief Toad?!" The blond boy screamed.

"He's busy." Gamakichi responded, quite calmly. "Hey, Gamatatsu, wanna play tag?"

"Do you have candy?" The yellow toad, who was apparently called Gamatatsu, asked.

"Uh... No."

"Then no."

"Whoa, Naruto..." Sakura said. "Didn't know you were such a frog enthusiast."

Suddenly, Gaara began to scream violently. Clutching his head, his entire body was engulfed in sand and the winds picked up. The Leaf ninja were blown back along with the toads as a giant pile of sand began to form.

A monster rose from the sand, towering over the forest. The raccoon dog made out of sand had dark blue markings over its face, body and tail. Its jagged mouth was wide open, screaming about how he was going to kill everyone and it was going to be "the most fun he has had in a while."

"Its huge..." Sakura remarked, staring at the beast infront of her.

 _If the Ichibi looks like that, then what do you look like, Kokuo?_

" **We won't talk about that now! Sakura, we need to take Shukaku down!** The Gobi informed her host.

 _R-right!_ _Great. Now I'm stuttering in my thoughts._

 **"I'm going to kill all of your friends, baby!"** Shukaku yelled, diving at Naruto and Sakura. The pinkette dragged her teammate away with her. Luckily, Sasuke was in the opposite direction and out of harms way.

Multiple trees broke down and Sakura barely avoided knocking into any. **"Raaaaahhhh!"** The Ichibi shouted. **"This is so much fuuuuuun!"** Breaking a tree out of the ground, Shukaku threw it in the distance. Not at anything, just for fun.

Naruto and Sakura stared at the Ichibi once Sakura had stopped running. _How are we going to beat him?_

 **I'll lend you my chakra!"** Kokuo shouted as Sakura felt the boiling sensation she was all too familiar with. Beside her, the pink-haired girl realised that Naruto was surrounding himself in red chakra.

The cherry blossom felt that she couldn't move. Sand surrounded herself and Naruto and wrapped itself around their bodies.

 _What?!_

 **"Sakura, break out!"** The pinkette's brain scanned through many plans, wondering which one will work.

"I'll protect then all!" Naruto suddenly shouted, using the summoning jutsu for the third time. A rush of white smoke filled Sakura's eyes as it ferociously pushed the creeping sand away.

Sakura felt that she was standing on something new. A bit of a weird thing to realise but she was also high up in the air, on the head of a giant toad.

"Yeah, you really are a frog enthusiast." Sakura said, staring at the toad her teammate had summoned.

"Chief Toad, you're here! Finally!" Naruto celebrated.

"What's going on?" Gamabunta asked, eyeing Shukaku.

"Dad!" Gamakichi, the red toad, shouted. "That sand guy was bullying us!"

"What?!" The enormous toad yelled. Hand on his blade, Gamabunta was ready for battle.

"This can't be real." Sakura said to herself.

"Sakura, you should get back-" The cherry blossom interrupted the knuckle-head.

"No way!" She refused. "We're in this together! To protect them all from this monster!"

 **"Monster?!"** The Ichibi took offense, hearing Sakura from far away. **"I'll show you what this monster can do!"** The beast roared and an air bullet was blasted at Gamabunta.

The toad leaped into the air and aimed a water attack at the Ichibi that was countered by another air bullet. The chief toad landed on the other side of the Ichibi and jumped up again as the tailed beast fired multiple more bullets.

 _Fire beats wind! Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!_ Sakura blew a giant ball of flames from atop of the Chief Toad at the wind bullets and Gamabunta fired more water bullets. Their attacks combined and a great ball of smoke was formed from the collision of the blasts.

Gamabunta landed on the ground and charged at the One-Tails, grabbing his toad blade. Shukaku whipped his tail at Gamabunta, pushing the summoned toad back.

 **"Wind Style: Infinite Sandstorm Devistation!"** A wave of sand blew towards the Chief Toad at a rapid pace.

"Kid, I need you to use fire again!" Gamabunta asked as he was about to use his tiad oil.

"What?" Sakura asked. Jiraiya's toad used his toad oil. It bursted out of his mouth and the pinkette quickly produced a fire ball. It combined with the oil and the flames countered the Ichibi's attack.

"Kids, transform us into something with fangs and claws! It'll be a combination transformation!" The toad yelled. Sakura tried to think of an animal with fangs and claws but, in the heat of the moment, she just couldn't.

Naruto also was scrambling his brain for something to transform into and he performed the jutsu when an idea struck. With a poof, Gamabunta and the genin transformed into a fox with nine tails.

Sakura was shocked that Naruto had transformed them into the Nine-Tails. Of all the things, the dobe had thought of this to transform into. For some reason, though, it seemed perfect.

The fox snarled and ran at Shukaku. The Ichibi sent more air bullets but the Kyuubi jumped up and landed on the sand beast, biting into it. Shukaku desperately tried to push Kurama off but to no avail. Then the fox reverted back into Gamabunta and Naruto and Sakura were running along the One-Tails' hand.

The pinkette grabbed Naruto's hand and pumped chakra into her feet, leaping high into the air, not as high as Gamabunta but still high, and aimed for Gaara who was sleeping on top of Shukaku.

 ** _"Shannaro!"_** Sakura and Kokuo screamed, punching Gaara in the cheek along with Naruto. The attack woke Gaara up and he looked confused. The Ichibi roared once more, blowing the genin back onto Gamabunta and Naruto's forehead protector flew off.

 _Kokuo-chan, lend me your chakra!_ Red chakra swirled around Sakura and Naruto followed.

"Die!" Gaara yelled as the Team Seven duo charged at him. His sand caught the both of them an inch away from himself and in a desperate attempt to attack him, Naruto headbutted the sand ninja.

The sudden attack drew blood and Shukaku began to disappear into sand. The three jinchuuriki began to fall.

Gamabunta disappeared along with his sons. Sakura and Gaara landed on top of the trees while Naruto dropped onto the floor. The two ninja charged at each other and Sakura poured her red chakra into her fist and punched Gaara in the cheek once more.

They both dropped to the ground.

Her red chakra gone, Sakura felt that her body was drained of chakra as she collided into the ground. Beside Naruto, she began to get up and make her way towards Gaara who just lied on the ground.

"Why do you keep on fighting?" The sand ninja asked, his voice low and almost inaudible.

"Because..." Naruto said as he crawled towards the One-Tailed jinchuuriki. "...I want to protect them."

"Protect...?" Gaara repeated as if it was a word he had never heard of.

Sakura continued, walking slowly towards Gaara. "We'll battle with the power of the beasts within us... to protect those precious to... US!" The cherry blossom fell just before saying the last word.

"Protect those precious... to you..?" Gaara repeated their words again and wondered what was precious to him. Just then, Temari and Kankuro appeared right next to their brother and helped him up. As they walked away, Gaara said to them "Thank you."

Konohagakure had survived the attack from Sunagakure and Otogakure. All the villagers dressed in black to attend the Third Hokage's funeral.

Sakura walked with her parents to the Great Hokage faces, encountering Sasuke along the way and he silently walked with them.

The pinkette was being closely monitored by her mother who deemed her "unfit for travel" due to her previous battle. And by travel, she meant stand.

Standing by Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura looked on at a Leaf Ninja, named Akihiko, speak great things of their hokage. Once they all took a moment of silence, the only sounds that were heard was Konohamaru's sobs. Then, Iruka explained what the Will of Fire was.

Sakura wasn't listening to his explanation. She was only thinking of the Third Hokage.

 _He protected the village... By sacrificing himself..._ Sakura remembered the first time she met Kakashi and what he asked of them.

 _'Let's all introduce ourselves.'_ _Kakashi said. 'Tell me your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future and so on.'_

This was something Sakura always thought hard about. At first, she made a mess out of her answer. The thing she regretted most about her answer (and she regretted everything. Yes, even saying she hated Naruto) was what she said about her dream. There was nothing in particular Sakura wanted to be when she was older. What was her dream for the future?

 _My dream for the future... is to be like the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and protect Konoha with my life on the line!_

It wasn't a dream for her future really. It was for the future of the Leaf Village. And Sakura would stick to these words for her entire life.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N So, I don't know if I said it or not but I would really like to create my own little arcs in Naruto. And this is going to be one I made up. Hopefully, that's alright. If not then I'm really sorry.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 17**

"Ibiki." Kakashi greeted said man as he walked into Konoha's prison. "He still not talking?" The silver-haired man asked, referring to the stone ninja, although he knew the answer.

"Still won't say a thing." Ibiki responded. "You have any idea how word got out about the kid?" The chunin exams' proctor questioned.

"Either news has spread because of those trusted by Sandaime-sama or the Land of Earth have some ninja spreading this."

"And how is the girl reacting to all this attention?" Ibiki asked.

"She barely notices it." Kakashi slightly smiled but Ibiki didn't notice. "She's just been going about her life like normal."

"But you do know that since word has been spreading..." The man without the mask trailed off.

The Team Seven jonin's face turned serious. "Yes." He said. "There's a high possibility that the Akatsuki know. Have guards be on alert as well as any trusted jonin and chunin in the village."

No matter how many guards there were, no matter how many people were told that the Akatsuki may infiltrate, they would still come. And they were going to arrive soon.

* * *

"Go to bed!" Mebuki shrieked once she caught a certain pinkette sneaking out.

"Ah!" Sakura jumped, surprised that she got caught. _Am I really a ninja if I can't sneak out of my own home without getting caught?_

Days passed since the sand and sound attacked the leaf and things had gone back to normal excluding the fact that the leaf had no hokage. Sakura had been training daily since and her mother was not here for it. She banned her from doing it today and Sakura thought she could sneak out at night. But the pinkette was dead wrong.

As her mother tucked her in, Sakura devised a plan to jump out of her window later on. The cherry blossom buried her face into her pillow and waited for her mother to leave. When she heard the door close, Sakura waited a few moments and then got up.

 **"Sakura-chan, what are you doing?"** Kokuo asked, a yawn escaping her mouth.

"This looks like me, right?" Sakura asked, looking down at the mess of pillows under her blanket. She did this just in case her mother returned to check on her. The devious devil of a girl made her way for her balcony, but, suddenly, her light turned on.

"Aha!" Mebuki shouted, pointing at her daughter. It seemed as though she had been in the room all along.

Sakura was academically smart. Describing the chakra network? She had that down. Explaining the differences between physical energy and mind energy? She could do it in her sleep. But, when put on the spot, she could be dangerously daft. So when her mind went through the things to do to get out of this alive, she went for the stupidest one.

"Oh no, I'm sleep-walking." Sakura said, her arms out-stretched as she walked around her room like a zombie. _People who sleep-walk say their sleep-walking, right?_ Sakura thought, feeling the need to punch herself.

The next day, Sakura found herself doing all of her mother's chores as punishment.

* * *

Kurenai Yuhi, the leader of Team Eight, was summoned by the Leaf Village Elders. She had received a mission, a B Rank. It was sad that Kiba and Shino couldn't go along.

* * *

"A mission?" Sakura asked her friend, Ino. The pinkette had been watering her mother's many plants in front of her house when Ino came running up to her. The blonde seemed excited as she ran towards her rival.

"Yeah, me, you, Hinata and Kurenai-sensei. We leave in two days." Ino cheered. "Girl Squad!"

"Is that allowed?" The cherry blossom asked.

"What?" Her rival was confused at her question.

"I'm on Squad Seven and you're on Ten. Why are we going?" Sakura questioned.

"Both Kiba and Shino have some clan stuff going on." Ino answered. "Anyway, let's go!"

"Where?" Sakura asked, confused. The mission was in two days.

"To the Training Field!"

"Kaa-san, I have to go!" Sakura shouted, running away with her friend. The cherry blossom heard a loud shout coming from her house, no doubt her mother, but she chose to ignore it. However, she knew her future self would resent herself for it.

* * *

Hinata, Sakura and Ino were all at the Training Field. Not the one that Sakura usually trained at but that didn't matter.

"So, Forehead, try not to mess up on this mission, yeah?" Ino suddenly said while Sakura was meditating with her eyes closed.

"What was that?!" The pinkette opened one eye, clenched her teeth and looked at Ino with a thunderous expression.

"Well, there are kunoichi that know how to fight... And then there's you."

Hinata looked on, stopping from repeatedly punching a tree, as her fellow genin traded insults with each other blow after blow.

The rivals were now angrily growling at each other, their foreheads touching as they began to push each other back.

"Maybe we... we should get some.. um... dumplings?" Hinata suggested, trying to get the girls to stop fighting.

"This pig will eat them all up!" Sakura fumed as she pushed Ino back a few metres.

"That's it!" Ino punched Sakura but it only angered the cherry blossom, leading her to kick the blonde away. Both girls took a kunai out each and charged at each other.

Only to be stopped by a blue aura hitting the both of them.

"Eight Triagrams: 64 Palms Guard!" Hinata lashed out her arms, hitting the girls who were arguing with multiple punches and blowing them away.

"Sorry...!" The Hyuga girl quickly said. "I just... I just wanted you guys to stop fighting..." She sighed and began staring at the ground, annoyed with herself by trying to stop violence with violence.

Sakura and Ino both slowly stood up, sighing because they both lost their cool. Before they could apologise to each other, a loud shout was heard calling Sakura.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto began to run over to his teammates as Chouji slowly walked behimd him. Hinata blushed as the Five-Tails' host groaned. "What are the three of you doing hanging out together?" The blonde boy asked.

"We have a mission with Kurenai-sensei." Sakura answered her teammate.

"But you're all girls."

Chouji choked on his potato chips at Naruto's reply as Hinata frowned. But Ino's and Sakura's reactions were more... deadly.

"What did you just say?" The rivals said in unison, towering over the cowering Nine-Tails' host.

"I didn't mean it, I swear!" Naruto said, hoping this would calm them and praying that he would get out of this alive.

Sakura was a reasonable girl (sometimes) and she would let Naruto off if he did something for her.

"Okay, Naruto. Go get another male ninja our age and we'll have a 3 on 3 match." Sakura said, shocking the other four genin. "Or are you too scared?" The pinkette asked.

"What?! I never back down from a challenge!" Naruto shouted, ready for battle.

"I didn't agree to this." Chouji said, beginning to walk off.

"Chouji..." Ino quietly said. "If you don't do this, I'll make sure you can't continue the Akamichi family name." That was enough to get the chubby boy to get into a stance, slightly shaking. But Ino wanted to add a cherry on top. "Fatso."

"Ino!" Chouji yelled, fire buring bright into his eyes. "Naruto, go get someone else so we can beat these girls!"

As Naruto pondered over another ninja, Hinata began to doubt herself. _What if I hold them back?_ The Byakugan user looked down at the ground once again.

Sakura sensed what the previous Hyuga heiress was thinking and decided to give her some confidence. "Hinata-san." Said girl looked at the Team Seven kunoichi. "Let's do our best." The shy girl smiled and nodded.

"Oh, I know!" Ino yelled. "Sasuke-kun usually does his training now. We can get him to fight!" The blonde girl skipped away, going over to where the anti-social Uchiha usually trains.

"Sakura-chan, how does she know what time Teme trains?" Naruto asked his teammate.

"I don't know." Sakura replied.

Moments later, Ino came skipping back. "Let me guess, he said no." Naruto said.

"Actually, he agreed." Ino smiled, shrugging her shoulders a bit.

 _What did she do?_ Sakura asked herself but didn't have time to figure it out because Sasuke was walking towards them.

"Let's get this over with." He said, making it seem as though he had better things to do.

"Alright!" Ino cheered. "It's boys VS girls!" Three ninja stood on each side, ready for battle. "Begin!"

 _Earth Style: Weighted Boulder Jutsu!_ Sakura started by hurling chunks of the earth at her opponents, who easily dodged.

Chouji came running at Ino, wanting revenge for her earlier comment but Sakura interrupted him. "Okay, you first, Sakura! Then, I'll finish Ino!" The chubby boy announced.

Meanwhile, with Sasuke and Ino...

Ino was trying to attack Sasuke but he was easily evading her and retaliating with quick punches. He was going easy on her and she knew it. _Wow._ Ino thought. _Is it because he doesn't want me to get hurt or he doesn't think I'm worth it?_

With Naruto and Hinata...

Naruto wasn't hesistant about fighting Hinata. He saw her battle in the preliminary matches and saw how amazing she was. But Hinata didn't want to fight Naruto of all people. _If only Ino-san decided to go against Naruto-kun so I could fight Sasuke-san._

"Let's go, Hinata-chan!" The jinchuriki charged at his opponent but was blown back by Hinata's 64 Palms Guard.

Back with Chouji and Sakura...

"Super Expansion Jutsu!"

Sakura knew what to expect as she saw this during the preliminaries. Charging towards the human boulder, the pinkette transferred chakra into her fist and punched Chouji. The force from the collision of both of their attacks sent them both flying. However, Chouji hit the ground and refused to get up whereas Sakura quickly rebounded off of a tree.

"Forehead, switch with me!" Ino yelled, putting some distance between herself and Sasuke.

"Right!" They both switched places and Sakura now faced off with an excited Uchiha.

 _Finally..._ Sasuke thought, taking a kunai out of his pouch. The cherry blossom copied but took two and her opponent noticed that chakra was surrounding both of her ninja tools. _Her_

 _chakra control will be a problem..._

 _Be weary, Sakura._ Said girl told herself.

 **"You're stronger than him."** Kokuo told her friend.

"Um... Thanks?" Sakura accidentally said out loud. This seemed to happen a lot.

"Hn?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her.

"Sorry, nothing." She replied, giving him a nervous giggle. Right after, she ran at him, pumping chakra into her feet for a speed boost. Attempting to attack him with her kunai, Sakura swiped her one of her kunai left but Sasuke moved back to avoid it. He could literally hear the kunai slice the air and he told himself to be extra careful.

The Uchiha jumped backwards, trying to avoid close combat. The two Team Seven ninja formed the exact same hand signs (Of course dropping their kunai).

 _Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!_ Two giant balls of flames hit one another, creating a cloud of smoke. The other genin stopped fighting and began to spectate the battle between Sasuke and Sakura.

The sharingan user quickly produced another fire ball once the smoke cleared. Sakura decided to counter with a new jutsu. _Water Style: Water Bullet!_ With such force, a ball of water was shot out of the pink haired girl's mouth. It went straight through the fireball and hit Sasuke who was beyond surprised.

 _Four nature releases down!_ Sakura smirked. _What if I learned lighting and could use all five?_

Sasuke was blown backwards and dug his kunai into the ground to stop him from going any farther but his teammate was right in front of him and hit him in the cheek with one of her famous chakra enhanced punches. He flew into a tree and Sakura stood triumphantly.

 _Now for..._ The cherry blossom looked at the others who looked at Sasuke with horror.

"Oh my God..." Ino remarked before running away. The other three quickly followed.

Sakura looked at her teammate who was on the ground as he began to rise. He looked at Sakura.

 _If looks could kill..._ The jinchuriki thought as she also noticed the bruise on his cheek.

She then followed her friends' example and ran away.

 **A/N You good with it so far? Like or no?**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 18**

Sakura ran in a random direction. She didn't know where she was actually going, the girl was only focused on the fact that her teammate was fast. She didn't dare look back because she thought that seeing Sasuke right behind her, ready to attack her, was worse than the look he gave her. And she wasn't even sure he was chasing her.

Taking a quick and cheeky look behind her, Sakura noticed that he wasn't actually there so she skidded to a halt.

 _Traitors._ Sakura referred to her "friends" who ran off and left her with a fuming Uchiha. She would be sure to give Ino, Naruto and Chouji a punch on the head each and Hinata a stern talking to.

"Oh, Forehead." Sakura looked to her left to see the Amaguriama. Ino and Hinata were sitting on a bench in front of the store and were eating dumplings. "You survived." Ino said.

"Yes, I did!" The pinkette shouted, imagining their heads exploding. "And so did you guys because you fucking left without me! And here you are, like pigs, filling your piggy mouths with dumplings like pigs!"

As you can see, the Team Seven kunoichi uses many intelligent words when she's angry.

"Okay, okay, okay..." The blonde tried to calm her down. "I believe you are trying to tell us something about pigs."

"Shut up, pig." The cherry blossom stated, snatching a dumpling stick off of Ino's plate and sitting beside the girls.

"Um... Sakura-san, we didn't mean to leave you-" Hinata stopped talking once the jinchuriki gave her a deadly look.

"Where are the other two?" Sakura asked, tossing her finished dumpling stick on Ino's plate and taking another.

"Naruto went home to cry about how ashamed he was for running away and Shikamaru lured Chouji away with some candy." Her rival replied.

"That's not worrying." She remarked. Suddenly, with a poof, Kakashi appeared in front of the three girls.

"How's it going?" The jonin asked, putting his sinful book away. "Sakura, don't forget about training tomorrow just because you have yourself a mission without your usual squad." The masked ninja said.

"I won't, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura replied as her teacher took the final dumpling stick off of Ino's plate. The blonde scowled but, just like Sakura and Hinata, who were looking at the older man with curious eyes, Ino wanted to see what he looked like without his mask.

"It doesn't seem that different around here." The man commented, turning his back to the three genin and staring at the Hokage Faces. The girls began to peer around him, trying to get a look at his face but he seemed to be turning as well because they were always facing his back.

"That was nice." Kakashi said, turning around with his mask on but he had already eaten. "Thanks." Flicking away the stick, he diappeared just as he appeared.

"We were so close." Sakura grumbled.

"That was the last one!" Ino shrieked, just noticing.

Hinata still had a dumpling on her stick and the Team Ten ninja looked at her with pleading eyes. The Hyuga girl quickly ate it. "Sorry, I've finished." She bowed, making Ino mope.

* * *

The next day, Sakura was the first to arrive at the usual bridge for Squad 7. While waiting, she noticed the odd looks she was getting. In fact, she noticed that she had been getting a lot of odd looks lately.

That time the woman called her a freak was the first but there had been other moments after. When she was in the training field, she saw some genin she didn't recognise and they immediately left upon sight of her. Sakura didn't think she was particularly liked since she was always Quote: "A Bitch". But she wasn't fond of those looks the ninja gave her.

The most recent was yesterday at the Amaguriama. Once Ino and Hinata left, Sakura sat at the bench and stretched out her legs, accidentally tripping over a woman. The pinkette quickly helped her up, apologising for tripping the lady up. Expecting an "It's okay", the kunoichi was surprised when the woman gave her a hard look and muttered something under her breath. Sakura had caught it though.

'I hope the next Hokage gets rid of them.'

Sakura wasn't stupid. It was obvious what "them" was referring to. _Tailed-Beasts. Or their hosts, I guess._ The pinkette thought. It was easy to put two and two together since she started obtaining these looks ever since the mission with her father. After everything that was happening to her, Sakura had one question. _Did Naruto-kun go through this?_

A laugh from her friend alerted her. **"Sakura-chan,"** Kokuo giggled. **"Did you realise what you just said?"**

 _What?_ Sakura questioned the Gobi but received no reply. It was alright though. Sakura didn't want to have a conversation in her head while Sasuke was here.

The Uchiha slowly walked to the bridge and leaned on the side. The purple bruise on his left cheek was extremely noticeable and Sakura flinched at the size of it.

"Morning, Sasuke-kun..." The girl let out a nervous chuckle, trying to make this less awkward.

"Hn." He replied.

They stood in silence, like normal, as they waited for the other two members of their team. _Why is it so uncomfortable now?_ Sakura wondered.

"Sakura-chan!" The shout was sent from heaven Sakura believed. At least, Naruto could lighten up the mood. "Whoa, Teme, that's a massive bruise!"

Or not.

The pinkette's face went red as did Sasuke's. "Shut up, Dobe!" The raven-haired boy growled.

"How did that happen? Did you get into a fight and lose?" Naruto asked, actually poking the purple circle on his rival's face, leading to his hand being smacked away.

"Don't touch me!" Sasuke continued to growl at his teammate.

 _Seriously, Naruto, did you not see me punch him yesterday?_ Was Sakura's thoughts during this period of time.

"Oh, we had that fight yester- Oh!" It seemed as though Naruto finally figured it out. "Teme..." The blond grinned before letting out a loud laugh. He laughed so hard he began to choke and let out tears. While Naruto tried to stop himself from crying, Sakura and Sasuke shuffled away from each other slightly.

"You got a..." The blond continued to laugh. "From Sakura..." He clapped his hands. "It's replaying in my head over and over... It's even funnier when you do remember it in slow motion."

Sakura couldn't help it. When Naruto mentioned it in slow motion, her mind instantly showed her punch on Sasuke in slow motion and she covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing but to no avail.

The Uchiha looked at the both of them with deadly eyes and felt the urge to whack them both on the head but, he didn't. Because he was a nice guy. No, actually, Kakashi arrived.

"What's going on here?" Their sensei said, noticing that Naruto had tears in his eyes and, along with Sakura, was giggling uncontrollably. "And Sasuke, what happened to your cheek?"

Naruto's laughing intensified.

* * *

After Naruto explained to Kakashi the deal with Sasuke's cheek, and after Sasuke karate chopped Naruto on the head leaving a bump, Team Seven went to their usual training field.

"You three haven't been genin for long but you've already achieved a lot." The jonin said to his students.

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered. "I beat the strongest genin in Konoha and I've learnt a lot more jutsu! Plus, the three of us may become chunin!" He had to throw the ending in because Sasuke and Sakura were were sending him death glares for only talking about himself. "That reminds me, have you been told?!" The blonde boy went uncomfortably close to Kakashi, excited to hear his answer.

"Urr... No." He replied, disappointing the jinchuriki because Naruto wanted to know who made it to chunin. "As I was saying, you've achieved a lot but we still need to work on your teamwork." This received negative reactions from the genin of Team Kakashi.

The Uchiha grunted, showing he was annoyed, the Haruno rolled her eyes as if she had heard this before which she had and the Uzumaki complained and blamed Sasuke that their teamwork wasn't good.

 _He's not wrong though._ The pinkette thought. _We all usually do our own thing when battling._

"Now!" Kakashi's voice boomed, startling his team. "Your task is..." He continued in a calmer tone. "To fight Team Ten."

"What?!" Ino shrieked and Sakura noticed that Asuma's team had just arrived.

 _Another three V three fight? We just had one yesterday._ The cherry blossom thought, referring to the Girls VS Boys fight the day before.

"To be honest, I already knew about the fight yesterday." Kakashi admitted "And I thought it was a great way to improve on your teamwork."

"What a drag..." Shikamaru yawned as the genin got into their stances. Asuma smirked at the boy's comment.

"10 Ryo on my team." He said to Kakashi.

"You're on." Kakashi regretted it. Why did he say that? He was betting on **_Team Seven!_**

"Begin!" Asuma said as his team got into position.

"Ino-"

"Shika-"

"Cho!"

"Do you know what they're doing?" Naruto asked his teammates who shook their heads. The blond boy discovered that he couldn't move.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu is a success." The lazy genin announced, scartching his back, forcing Naruto to copy.

Ino used her mind transfer technique on an unsuspecting Sasuke as revenge for their battle the day before. Sakura noticed and jumped out of the way of Ino/Sasuke's shuriken that was aimed at her.

Ino/Sasuke jumped away and Sakura was hit in the back by a Chouji boulder. _I was so focused on Ino that I forgot...!_ Ino released her jutsu as the Team Seven kunoichi stumbled into Sasuke and they fell to the ground. Also, Naruto was still doing poses that Shikamaru was forcing him to do.

It was all a disaster and Sakura could hear Kokuo laughing inside her head. "I think that's enough." Her teacher said, sighing disappointedly.

 **"Yes, anymore of this and I may have to intervene."** The beast continued to laugh - making her host scowl.

"Did we just get beat by Team Asuma in less than ten seconds?" Sakura asked, standing up and brushing dust off of her clothes. The growl from Sasuke didn't go unnoticed.

"You see, Asuma's squad have good teamwork. You guys..." Kakashi trailed off, leaving his team to feel ashamed.

* * *

After that embarassing fight, Team Seven made their way back to the usual bridge; An uncomfortable silence was swaying between them.

"I'm going to let you three off today with the lecture." The jonin said, making Sakura roll her eyes since he had already given them one after Asuma's team left. "Naruto, Sasuke. Be back here tomorrow, the usual time. Sakura, good luck on your B-rank."

"What B-rank?" Sasuke asked. If they had a B-rank mission, he should've been told.

"You idiot, it's Sakura's mission." Naruto grouched, annoyed that he would have to deal with Sasuke now that Sakura wasn't going to be here the following day.

"Well," Kakashi started. "We still have missions tomorrow. Actually, just one. We have to clean someone's house."

"What?!" Naruto yelled. "You're telling me Sakura gets to go on a mission outside of the village but I have to clean someone's home?!"

What happened next made Sakura feel weird. Sasuke left. He simply walked away, his footsteps making sounds on the bridge. Of course, the Uchiha would quietly walk away at the bridge everyday they had missions or training but he always waited for their sensei to dismiss them.

 _What's wrong with him?_ Sakura asked herself.

* * *

"Forehead, you're late!" Ino complained at the village gates, standing beside Hinata and Kurenai.

"Sorry." The pinkette apologised. She thought she was going to be on time but, after losing a few things and her mother giving her a lecture about not getting into any danger, here she was following in Kakashi's footsteps.

Forcing out any negative or nervous thoughts in her head about her temporary team, Sakura decided to focus on the mission.

She hoped nothing bad would happen.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N Thank you for 100 followers. Damn, that's a lot of people. Lol.**

 **And just so you know, this arc is going to be a little short and it will be over soon.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 19**

"So," Kurenai Yuhi started. "This is a B-rank mission. Frankly, I am against letting genin go on these sorts of missions but the amount of missions Konoha has been receiving has significantly increased."

Sakura listened to the woman, focused on the mission at hand. She was nervous for some reason but she had done more dangerous things. She did a A-rank before. Granted, she didn't do too much on that mission but she also fought against Gaara of the Sand and that was something.

The team full of Kunoichi were sitting in a small clearing near the outskirts of the Hidden Leaf. The Team Eight jonin decided to inform them of the mission details before they progressed further.

"Before the chunin exam finals, Sandaime-sama received intel from a trusted source that a ninja had gone rogue from the Hidden Ash village." Kurenai continued.

The pinkette knew that the Ash village was in the Land of Fire but was still quite far from the Leaf. It wasn't that big and had actually become a hidden village only a year ago.

"And now the elders have found out that the ninja that went rogue stole a forbidden scroll from his home village. Our mission is to retrieve that scroll and return it back to the Hidden Ash village. Understood?"

The genin replied with a chorus of "Yes!"

"And, I shouldn't have to tell you, but if the rogue ninja makes it difficult for us to bring the scroll back, we will have to cut him down."

The girls didn't reply, they only gave each other shaky looks.

"First, we need to go to the Hidden Ash and speak with their kage." The girls nodded and off they went.

* * *

"Got the mission details?" A man, with a jonin vest and a Konoha headband, said to his twin brother.

"Quiet!" The other growled. "Should've picked someone else..." He muttered.

"Oh, come on, Akihiko-nii-san." The first man said. "It's not like anyone else would go with you because of what you are trying to do."

"Shut up, Akiniko!" Akihiko growled once again to his brother who was named quite similarly to him. "Just stop talking and lets go."

"Fine, fine..." The brothers left the village but travelled slowly. Their mission required them to be calm, quiet and careful. Especially with their target being in a team with Kurenai Yuhi as well as being a jinchuriki.

And no, this mission was not given to them by the elders.

* * *

As the Girl Squad were travelling, Kurenai was thinking of her conversation with Kakashi the previous day. He had told her to keep a close eye on Sakura. The genjutsu master was curious as to whether this was a normal request or was this about the Five-Tails.

What confused Kurenai the most was how Sakura was still alive. The girl had a low chakra flow and with a tailed-beast inside of her, it should've consumed her entire being, especially with the weak seal the Land of Earth ninja used. It was a miracle that she was still alive when her sensei and his rival made it to her.

The team of females travelled until the sun set, finally making it to the village. The Ash village wasn't black or grey like Sakura had assumed so by the name. The only reason it was called the Ash Village was because of the dormant volcano nearby.

The cherry blossom noted that the Ash wasn't as intriguing as she initially thought. Nothing stood out to her and it was quite disappointing.

As they walked through the streets of the village, no one was around. They may have turned in for the night but it still seemed eerily silent. But that faded once they walked to an inn where voices could be heard from within.

"We'll be staying here for the night. You girls will share a room and we'll talk to the Kage in the morning, as arranged." Kurenai informed her team. They slowly walked into the building.

A lot of people were standing around, particularly doing nothing. Even some ninja lounged on the chairs as if they didn't have anything better to do.

"Look." Ino whispered to Sakura, discreetly pointing to a ninja. "His headband." Ninja received forehead protectors obviously. But each village, that had ninja, had a different symbol. The Leaf had a spiral, the Sand had an hour glass and it seemed that the Ash had a simple vertical line. "It's like they carved it into theirs with a kunai." The blonde continued, unimpressed.

However, it didn't seem as though she was the only one who was unimpressed. The Ash ninja gave them dirty looks as they passed, Sakura didn't really know why (maybe because they were from the Leaf), and she didn't really care. As long as the ninja of this village respect the fact that the Leaf ninja were going to help them by obtaining a forbidden scroll and catching - or killing - a rogue ninja for them.

* * *

 _How did someone like this become a Kage?_ Sakura thought, giving a good look at the leader of the village they were currently in. He was a nervous wreck and he was about the same age as Kakashi. Not only that, but the reason he was so jittery was because he was speaking to Kurenai. He was fascinated with her and paid no mind to the genin who came along with their team leader.

They learnt a bit more information about the mission. The rogue ninja's name was Futoshi Ito and the reason he defected was because he swore to kill the Kage after his brother was taken down for treason. He was a chunin that was supposed to be promoted soon but he left before the decision was made final.

"Could you tell us where he was last spotted?" The jonin kunoichi asked, a tad of annoyance in her tone.

"Yes! Yes, anything for you!" The leader replied, justifying Kurenai's annoyance. "He was last spotted by the clearings around the volcano. We have a lot of open areas before you make it to the volcano and it seems as though he stays around them. Our ninja have never been able to find them though..."

"Okay, thank you. We'll head there now." Kurenai replied, bowing her head as did the three genin.

Walking out of the leader's Kage tower, Kurenai turned towards her team. "We'll need to split up and search for him but..." She trailed off, looking at the genin. Could she trust the three of them to take care of themselves without her?

"If we find anything, I'll let you know!" Ino said, surprising the girls. "My dad taught me a telepathy jutsu so I may be able to send you a message if we find anything."

Kurenai was in deep thought for a moment or so but, in the end, she decided to trust them. And to trust the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques. But, if anything were to happen, she would have to rush over to them.

* * *

"I say we go this way!"

"No, he's definitely this way!"

"Forehead, I'm the captain! I decide!"

"No, you're not, Pig! You're the dumb one that came along!"

The rivals began to growl at each other as Hinata sighed. They had been searching around for about an hour in the forest and all the childhood friends did was argue.

"Some captain you are!" Sakura said. "We haven't found him yet, so if you're captain, then BRAVO! You've led us around in circles like a useless bitch!" The pinkette began to clap as Ino sent her a death glare.

"Who you calling a bitch?!" The blonde screeched. "Maybe we should throw you a bone so you can run off in a different direction!"

"With your luck, you'll probably throw it in the direction of Futo-" Sakura was interrupted by Hinata.

"Sak-!" The scream that was forced to stop snapped them out of their arguement, only to see that Hinata was grabbed by her neck with a kunai aimed at her head. A ninja, dressed in all black, was standing right behind the Hyuga. Sakura could only see his eyes and arms because everything else was covered. He even wore gloves so she couldn't see his hands.

"The Ash Village sent help from Konoha?" The man asked with a raspy voice, his head tilting in wonder. Sakura's suspicions of this being Futoshi were confirmed. "Are they that desperate?"

"Let her go!" Ino shouted, not knowing what else to do. But, an idea struck. She discreetly formed a hand sign behind her back, not wanting Hinata's captor to know, and tried to connect with their jonin leader.

"I don't think so..." The man replied to Ino's shout. "Her eyes. It would be lovely to have them. Well, they may be weak because she didn't even see me coming." Sakura saw her friend's entire body begin shaking.

She had to save her. But what could she do?

In the end, she didn't have to do anything.

Using every ounce of power she had, Hinata striked with a force so deadly that it drew blood. It shocked the rogue ninja and it shocked her friends. _Did she just...?_ Sakura couldn't even finish her thought, too bewildered to do so.

Hinata bit him.

With a bloody arm, the man growled. "You bitch!" Futoshi tried to attack Hinata but the Team Eight ninja used her 64 palms guard to blow him away.

"Ninja Art: Covered With Flowers!" Ino shouted, already having notified Kurenai. Just like Sakura had seen during the preliminaries, purple flowers filled everyone's vision and Ino was running through them, ready to strike the man.

But her attack was blocked and she was hit back. The blonde didn't see who hit her back, however, she knew it wasn't Futoshi. She saw his clothes. The clothes of a Leaf ninja.

The flowers fell to the ground, revealling - not one - but two ninja from the genin's village who looked exactly the same. Ino skidded across the ground from the ninja's block but she withstood her ground.

"You sure took your time..." The Ash rogue grumbled, rubbing the arm Hinata had bitten.

"We paid you-"

"-so shut up."

"What do you want?" Sakura asked, a bit confused at their predicament. Why did they stop Ino and what was their relation to Futoshi? _They are with the Leaf, aren't they?_ After questions raced through her mind, she realised that she had seen them before. Well, one of them. Which one, she didn't know.

At the Third Hokage's funeral. Sakura knew the one that was saying those _ever so nice_ things about the beloved Kage was called Akihiko.

"Akihiko." The pinkette said, wanting to get a reaction out of one of them.

"Wait," The one on her right said. "Did you say 'niko' or 'hiko'?"

The one on her left face-palmed. "Akiniko, you're an idiot." He said.

"Hey! You just said my name, Akihiko!" The first one accused.

"And you just said mine!" Akihiko retorted. "And I didn't mean to say yours." The other pouted.

The three kunoichi were beyond confused. They hadn't done anything to them, they were bickering and Futoshi was just silently standing behind them.

"What do you want?!" Sakura repeated, a bit more aggressive than before. The twins stopped arguing and looked at her. The one she assumed was Akihiko walked closer to her as she began to take steps back.

"Sakura Haruno." He said, forming a hand sign. "We want the Gobi."

Next, the flames came.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N Thanks for 50 reviews!**

 **Also, I'm not sure about the fight scenes in this chapter. I found it very difficult to write them, more difficult than I usually find writing fight scenes.**

 **It's just they seem short but then again, I don't like dragging them out.**

 **I'm not sure about them but I'll let you be the judges.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 20**

Nothing was better than taking on two opponents at once. Especially if one could breathe fire and the other could form lightning around his entire body. And there was the fact that Sakura was a genin who was fighting two jonin.

Jumping out of the way of a stream of fire, Sakura ran at Akihiko and was ready to cut him down with her kunai. But Akiniko appeared, faster than she would've thought, and punched her away.

The pinkette felt the shock of the attack after she landed face flat on the ground. _Now how am I going to get out of this?_ Sakura thought as the twin brothers got ready to attack her once again.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ino and Hinata were fighting Futoshi. The man wasn't taking the battle seriously, only evading their attacks and occaissionally trying to grab onto Hinata - who would jump back.

"Hinata!" Ino said as she came up with an idea. "Take care of my body for a second." The blonde said as she performed the Mind Transfer Jutsu on her unsuspecting enemy. Her body gracefully fell to the floor and Hinata rushed up to it.

Ino, who was in the rogue ninja's body, found the scroll and tossed it over to her teammate. _Scroll retrieved._ She thought. _But we have to make sure this guy doesn't try to take it back._

Ino/Futoshi smirked. "Hinata, give me my exploding seals." Placing them all around the body she was hosting, Ino undid the jutsu and quickly formed another hand sign.

The hand sign set off the explosion and a great cloud of grey smoke was produced. "We have to help Sakura!" The blonde kunoichi said, ready to make her way to her rival. Hinata began to follow.

But a slight chuckle stopped them from going any further.

* * *

Sakura was tired. She had spent most of her time dodging the attacks that were aimed at her, waiting for an opening. But it never came.

The cherry blossom could no longer see her teammates and it worried her. _I wonder how they're holding up?_

 **"Don't think about that right now!"** Kokuo yelled. **"Focus on the enemies attacking you!"**

 _Water Style: Water Bullet!_

The ferocious blast of hydrogen and oxygen was sent hurtling at Akihiko, hitting him right in the face but only succeeded in making him a lot more mad and really annoyed.

 _What else can I do to stall?_ Sakura wondered as Akiniko laughed at his brother's state, making them argue once again.

 **"Maybe you can charge in recklessly with clones like your friend does..."** The Gobi muttered sarcastically.

Sakura's eyes widened, causing the Five-Tails to copy. Kokuo tried to take it back.

 **"I- I didn't mean it! It was obviously sarcas-"**

"Multi Cherry Blossom Clone Jutsu!"

It wasn't as much as Naruto could produce but since the blonde idiot had a lot more chakra than her, and used an uneccessary amount all the time, Sakura believed it was a win on her part.

"Charge, Shannaro!" Sakura screamed as the clones all chorused her favourite word and ran at the twin brothers.

* * *

Back with Ino and Hinata, the laughing had come from none other than Futoshi himself who had somehow survived the explosion.

He emerged from the smoke, his clothes burnt, ripped and tattered. His body was slowly healing his burns, turning from red back to his original tanned skin tone. It was nothing the Leaf genin had ever seen before.

"That was..." Futoshi rotated his neck as he finished healing. "...Quite annoying." He finished.

Hinata suspected that it had something to do with the scroll they had retrieved. This must have been the jutsu that was on there as it was forbidden.

The Team Eight ninja assessed their situation. While her and Ino were having trouble with one guy, Sakura was up against two. One of them had to go help her.

"Ino-san..." Hinata whispered, catching the flower lover's attention. "You should go to Sakura. I'll stall him."

Ino was reluctant. She didn't know if she should stay with Hinata, and quickly get this over with, or find Sakura and help her out against the other two men who randomly showed up.

The Hyuga sensed her teammate's reluctance. "I'll be fine." She offered a smile. Slightly nodding, Ino ran to where she thought Sakura was, leaving Hinata with the Ash Village chunin.

"I'll be taking your eyes now." Futoshi said, taking a kunai from his pouch.

Hinata awakened her Byakugan. "The Hyuga are the strongest in Konoha!" She got into her stance as the rogue charged at her.

He sliced his kunai down at her but she side-stepped out of the way swiftly. A white glow surrounded Hinata's hands and she forced her palm onto Futoshi's shoulder. He stumbled back and the kunoichi swiped her hand at his head however, he ducked and kicked her in the stomach. He then swiped his kunai down once more and barely hit her cheek, drawing a bit of blood.

It distracted the Hyuga and the Ash chunin swiped again, aiming for her eyes. Hinata bent down backwards, making her body into a bridge and kicked up with her right foot, that she enhanced with chakra, hitting his chin.

Because of her attack, Futoshi flew into the air and the kunoichi jumped up with him. But the rogue ninja used a wind attack, sending Hinata back towards the ground.

The girl quickly recovered and quickly let loose a series of punches on Futoshi's chest, once he landed, and pushed her chakra against it, blasting him away. "Heavens Dance of Hazy White!"

The chunin rebounded off of the ground and jumped onto a nearby tree branch. Clenching his teeth, he formed some hand signs and smoke began to surround Hinata.

It was a tactic used to blind her. But he should've know that, with her eyes, she could still see. Once Futoshi was close, she used her Eight Triagrams: 64 Palms Guard, hitting him sixty-four times so he would fly backwards once again.

The Team Eight ninja wasn't going to stop. She ran at him as he began to get back up and striked him in the stomach, making chakra aggresively go through him. "There!"

He dropped to the ground.

It all stopped for Hinata then. She didn't know what had happened in the last few minutes, but she had somehow won. _I just wanted to be like him..._ Her thoughts flashed to Naruto.

"Hinata." The sound of her sensei's voice had relief flood through her.

"Kurenai-sensei." The genin said. "Sakura and Ino are with two Leaf ninja who-"

"Yes, Ino told me." Kurenai replied, eyeing Futoshi, who was on the ground. But, in a split-second, he quickly stood up, jumped back and spat.

"I'll remember this, Konoha." Venom filled his voice and he disappeared in a black cloud of smoke.

They could've chased him but they didn't. It wasn't apart of their mission. And right now, Kurenai and Hinata had to get to the rest of their team.

* * *

With all of her clones gone, Sakura had to come up with a new plan. The twin brothers disposed of her fakes very easily that is actually seemed unfair. The pinkette was questioning her skills, wondering if they were actually good enough for a B-Rank mission in the first place.

 _But this isn't apart of my mission!_ The genin told herself. _They said they want Kokuo-chan._

"What do you want with the Gobi?" Sakura asked her opponents.

At first, Akihiko didn't want to answer. But, seeing how she was going to die, it didn't really matter if she knew or not.

"Konoha is failing at being the main Hidden Village in the Land of Fire." He said. "Instead of letting other villages attack us, we should be destroying them." Akiniko nodded along furiously at his brothers words.

"And with the power of the Tailed-Beasts, just like Suna tried to do, we can wipe out the other villages. The Third Hokage was a fool. He should've extracted the beasts from you and the Kyuubi. But he didn't and now he's buried six feet under."

The Team Seven ninja was shocked. This man wanted to wage war on the other villages with the power of the Tailed-Beasts.

"I'll become the host to the Gobi and destroy the Leaf Village first."

Sakura held her breath. _What did he say?_

"And then I'll make a new Leaf Village and turn myself into a Hokage who knows what is necessary to be done to live in the Shinobi world." The twin brothers charged at Sakura.

"You think I'm just going to let you do that?!" The cherry blossom's body heated up as anger coursed throughout her body. Her enemies noticed the change in her eyes. They were blue instead of green and her eyelids were red.

 _Earth Style: Weighted Boulder Jutsu!_

As if she had an infinite supply, boulder after boulder flew at Akihiko and Akiniko as they unsuccessfully tried to dodge and fell to the ground.

Akiniko quickly got up and ran at Sakura, lighting dancing around his body.

But the pinkette didn't have to do anything.

"Dynamic Entry!"

You'd think it was Lee or Gai, wouldn't you? But both answers were incorrect as Ino's foot slammed into Akihiko's face. However, it only resulted in making him angry so he focused on attacking her.

"Ino!" Sakura yelled - her eyes now normal - as the blonde girl was hit by one of Akiniko's lighting attacks. But she couldn't help because Akihiko started sending flames to her so she made a mud wall to protect her.

"I'm fine!" Her rival replied, even though the pinkette knew she was anything but.

 _Why is Ino here?_ Sakura asked herself. _Is Hinata fighting Futoshi alone? Is Kurenai-sensei with her?_ But Sakura decided to stop thinking about that and focus on the matter at hand.

 _I have to do something!_ Sakura looked around, looking for anything. What could she do? How could she get herself and Ino out of the way?

The questions raced through her mind and she wasn't paying attention. Akihiko jumped over her mud wall and proceeded to try and stab her with a kunai.

Sakura tried to get out of the way but it grazed her black undershirt and created a bloody cut. The Team Seven ninja didn't care though.

An onslaught of earth boulders flew at Akihiko but he easily dodged them all and ran at the jinchuriki. However, Sakura used her Hiding Mole Jutsu to get away.

 _If I can grab onto Ino and use the Hiding Mole Jutsu, we may be able to get away._ Sakura thought, slightly berating herself for not thinking of this sooner.

The jonin cursed. The Gobi girl was annoying him. She was easily evading him and he and his brother were supposed to make this quick.

"Akiniko!" The man yelled. "Combo." He said as his twin nodded. The siblings directed their attacks at Ino. The Yamanaka girl saw a flamethrower and lightning flying towards her.

 _Wind Style: Fluorescent Wind!_ Ino used a new jutsu she had been developing. Purple wind collided with the combination attack that was used against her and an explosion was made in between her and her enemies.

The downside was that she had no chakra left and was completely vunnerable. The twins were ready to use their attack once more time. Sakura, who watched in horror on the sidelines before, reacted in a way she never thought she would.

Red chakra surrounded her body, her eyes turned blue and the her eyelids turned red again. She formed hand signs. _I won't let you!_ Producing a blue fireball aimed at Akihiko, it blasted through the air, giving the jonin no time to dodge.

The ball engulfed him and the pinkette could hear his screams and shouts of pain. Akiniko couldn't force himself to do anything as he watched his brother burn.

Once the blue flames died out, Akihiko's body was left on the floor. Black and burnt. His body not moving. He couldn't even be recognised; he didn't look like his twin anymore.

And that's how Sakura had done it.

That's how she had her first kill.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N I had a bit of a stupid moment last chapter and ended up having to reupload the chapter. Lol.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 21**

Four ninja ran through the forests. Kurenai was in front of the other girls, an unconscious, tied-up Akiniko on her shoulder. Behind her, the three genin travelled in a line. Ino and Hinata casted worried looks at Sakura who was in the middle.

The pinkette's face was down. She wasn't paying attention. Her mind only repeated a few words.

 _All Shinobi do it. All Shinobi do it. All Shinobi do it._

It didn't make her feel much better. How could it after what she had done? She had taken someone's life!

After Akihiko's falling, Sakura zoned out. She could only stare at the body of the man she had just killed. The dead man's brother tried to attack her but Kurenai arrived and trapped him in a genjutsu. Then the leader sealed the older twin's dead body into a scroll. Everything was a blur after that. She didn't remember returning the scroll to the Ash Village Kage. She didn't even remember most of the journey back home.

The Girl Squad made it back to the Leaf Village in the morning. The leader told them to meet at the Hokage's Tower the next day as she believed they deserved a day of rest. Kurenai left with Akiniko still on her back as she was going to bring him to Ibiki.

"Hey, Sakura." Said girl looked at Ino expectantly. She noted that the blonde didn't call her 'Forehead.' Hinata was standing by Ino, still looking worried. "Wanna go get some breakfast?"

"I think I'm just going to go home." The cherry blossom gave a weak smile before walking off.

* * *

Sakura found the silence while walking home extremely irritating. She expected Kokuo to say something but the dolphin-horse was staying silent.

 **"Sakura-chan, you know I can hear you?"** The Gobi asked quite dryly. Sakura didn't respond. **"Well, I have something to tell you."**

"What is it?" Sakura asked, not caring about the odd look she received from some stranger.

 **"You've felt what it's like when I give you chakra, right?"** Sakura nodded. **But sometimes, when you're fighting, you somehow use my chakra without me knowing."** Kokuo explained.

"What?"

 **"Back when you produced that blue fireball, I didn't give you the chakra. You took it yourself. Same with the time you fought the Sand ninja in the Chunin Exams. You enhanced your wind style by taking my chakra."**

"Is that bad?" The kunoichi asked.

 **"Not particularly but..."** The beast trailed off.

"What is it?"

 **"Nothing..."** It sounded like it was something. **"It's just I've never seen it before..."** Kokuo hid what she truly wanted to say. **"My last host never did it."**

Sakura wanted to interrogate Kokuo about this last host of hers. No, she wasn't jealous. Definitely not jealous. Shut up!

The Team Seven ninja didn't realise she was home until she bumped into the door. Grumbling, she opened it and ran to her room. Oh, the joys of coming home when her parents were on missions.

* * *

Sakura couldn't believe that she had actually slept for sixteen hours. It was currently one in the morning.

The pinkette decided to get ready anyway. Maybe she could train until she had to meet Kurenai and the girls at the Hokage Tower.

She found it weird that she had no dreams. Sakura thought that her sleep would be plagued by nightmares and memories of her first kill. But she had only slept. No dreams or nightmares.

* * *

 **"Just like that."** Kokuo said once Sakura produced blue fireballs at a dummy made out of straw. The Training Field was quite cold and the warmth from flame attack wasn't helping at all.

"I don't understand." Sakura replied. "What's so special about me being able to take your chakra?"

 **"I find it unusual, that's all."** There was an undertone to the beast's reply. Sakura chose to ignore it.

"And the significance of the blue fire?" The cherry blossom asked.

 **"Your fire jutsu has been improving, especially because of my chakra."** Kokuo seemed proud.

Sakura was about to produce another fireball but she was stopped by the sound of a branch snapping. Looking over at the forest by her, the pinkette saw a black figure. It seemed to be getting bigger. _Wait._ Sakura observed. _It's not getting bigger, it's coming closer._

"Who's there?" She asked, ignoring the slight shake in her voice. The figure moved forward into the light of the moon and Sakura almost screamed at who it was.

He was burnt. He was bloody. And he was supposed to be dead.

Akhiko was walking slowly towards her. "The Gobi..." He said as Sakura began taking steps back. "Extract the Gobi!" He screamed.

 _I'm a ninja!_ She screamed at herself. _I can take him! But..._

He was suddenly in front of her and Sakura shrieked, falling onto the ground. His arms grasped hers and the kunoichi struggled against him. She was trying to get away, and she should've been able to but she was scared.

"Sakura!" It didn't sound like Akihiko anymore. "Are you okay?!"

The cherry blossom opened her eyes slowly to find her sensei staring at her, the same worried look on his face that she saw Ino and Hinata had before. Sakura looked at their position and noticed that she was on the floor of the Training Field. _How did I mistake Kakashi-sensei for Akihiko?_ The girl asked herself.

It was silent as the silver-haired man helped his genin up. Sakura dusted off her clothes, not looking her instructor in the eye. She was embarassed.

"Kurenai-chan told me what happened on your mission." Kakashi said after a few moments of silence and awkwardness. "I'm sorry you had to go through that so early."

"Don't be." Sakura replied robotically. It was like she rehearsed it just in case anyone apologised. "I'm a ninja. It's what we do." She scratched her arm as she tried to think of an excuse to leave.

"That doesn't mean you're not human. I felt the exact same way you did when I had my first kill. Most ninja do." Sakura didn't reply and she didn't voice her shock at his statement. "But..." Kakashi continued. "It's common for a ninja to talk to a professional after their first kill. But I have persuaded the elders to let you talk to me instead."

 _Why did he do that?_ Sakura asked in her head.

As if he could read her mind, Kakashi said "I didn't really like talking to a complete stranger so I thought this would be better for you."

Not knowing how to react, Sakura nodded.

"I'll find you tomorrow." The cherry blossom expected her sensei to leave in a poof. However, instead, she felt his hand ruffle her hair. "Even though you feel bad about it, I'm proud of you, Sakura." He smiled widely before disappearing in a white cloud.

Sakura didn't know why, but she felt the over-whelming urge to cry after that.

 **A/N Sorry it's so short but I wanted to end it there.**

 **By the way, I hope you check out a new fanfiction I'm writing called 'Sakura of the Sharingan.'**

 **-Bit weird that the two fanfictions I'm writing have a Sakura taking after either Naruto or Sasuke. Jinchuriki and Sharingan.**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N Does anyone else think Tenten would be awesome at using a puppet? I kind of want her to be a puppet master. Like learn some things from Kankuro - maybe we'll have our first pairing?** **Lol.**

 **And sorry it took so long to update.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 22**

The day after Kakashi and Sakura spoke in the Training Zone, the pinkette had been told that the elders were expecting her. The meeting with Kurenai didn't start until later so Sakura went to where she was told to go. She was nervous when she knocked on their door. Once she heard a low "Come in", she slowly opened it.

She was met with a room with two sofas. The one on her left had a man and a woman sitting on it and the other only a single man.

 _All of them are old._ Sakura thought.

 **"I think that's why they're called elders, Sakura-chan."** Kokuo quipped.

The cherry blossom knew that the woman in the room was named Koharu Utane and the man next to her was called Homura Mitokado. Opposite them was Danzo Shimura - the founder and leader of Root.

They watched her walk in and stayed silent while she waited for someone to say something. Not liking the silence, Sakura spoke. "I was told that you would like to see me?"

"I don't understand." Koharu began, looking at the men. "How could this little girl master such monstrous chakra?"

"She may not have mastered it." Homura replied.

"But she is still able to utilise it." Danzo retorted. Then he looked at the confused girl who had arrived. "Sakura Haruno." He said. "It has come to our attention that you have been able to manipulate the Gobi's chakra. Is this true?"

 **"Say yes."** Kokuo spoke.

"Yes." The kunoichi obeyed her friend.

"And... How are you able to do this?" Danzo asked.

"Kokuo lends it to me." The name came out without Sakura actually meaning to say it.

"Kokuo?" The elders looked at her suspiciously.

"I mean... The Gobi."

"Interesting." The Root founder said.

"That is all." Koharu said and the Team Seven ninja quickly walked out, ignoring the woman's look of disgust.

Kokuo was quick to review the situation as Sakura made her way to the Hokage Tower.

 **"They're probably wanting to use us for military purposes. A war against another country - Maybe the Land of Earth."**

"You say that so casually." Sakura said.

 **"Well, I was sealed in you there. If they don't attack the Land of Earth, they'll probably attack the the Hidden Sand Village. But Konoha will need a Hokage first."**

Sakura didn't respond. She didn't want to speak of war or speak of herself being used to take down another place.

Her goal was to keep Konoha safe but what good was that if Konoha was indangering other villages?

* * *

After giving the B-Rank mission statement, Sakura made her way over to the Team Seven meeting spot.

She gave her report robotically to Iruka. She didn't move a muscle when saying that she took the life of someone. She acted as if she was fine even though she felt like crap. A small part of Sakura wondered what happened to Akiniko but she didn't want to dwell on him.

"Sakura-chan! You're back!"

Naruto threw his arms around his favourite teammate, crushing her with his embrace.

"Hi, Naruto-kun." The boy froze, pulled back and looked at Sakura. His expression screamed confusion. "What?" The girl asked.

"'Kun'?" Naruto questioned.

"What about it?" The pinkette smiled at him to which he responded with a wider grin as he began to tell her about what he had been up to lately.

"And you remember that D-Rank mission Sasuke and I were supposed to do? Where we had to clean someone's apartment? It turned out to be Kakashi-sensei's apartment! That lazy pervert!" Sakura chuckled as Naruto fumed.

"Shut up, Dobe." Sasuke walked onto the bridge. "I can hear you from a mile away."

"Hey, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke didn't reply to his female teammate but Sakura didn't mind. And she was too out of it to care.

"Oh, look. All three of my genin are here today." Kakashi appeared in a white cloud.

"You're on time... Are you sick?" Naruto asked, slightly disappointed that he couldn't shout 'You're late!' to his sensei.

Sakura looked at her sensei curiously. She wondered when he would have a talk with her about the events of her last mission. She just hoped that he wouldn't say anything about it to her teammates.

"I decided to do your favourite activity today." The jonin ignored his student. "Team exercises!" He cheered as the genin all glared at him.

 _This is going to be hell._ Sakura thought as Kokuo made a sound of agreement.

* * *

"Teme! You took out my clone!"

"It was in my way!"

The pinkette sighed as her teammates argued. Team Seven were currently battling a Kakashi shadow clone who was easily defeating them.

 _Fire Style: Searing Flames Jutsu!_

Blue flames were produced out of Sakura's hands and they were aimed at the clone. The clone jumped out of the way before attacking her with a fireball to which she evaded with her Hiding Mole Jutsu.

"Enough." Kakashi said from his spot on a tree branch, Icha Icha in hand. He jumped down and dismissed his shadow clone. "You three suck at teamwork."

It was blunt and unlike their sensei, but they had a feeling it was coming.

"Sasuke," He turned towards the anti-social ninja. "You think that you can do things on your own and you believe that the others only drag you down." He turned towards the blonde. "Naruto, your strategy is to just throw in your shadow clones and charge recklessly." The male jinchuriki looked to the ground in thought as Kakashi turned towards his female student. "And Sakura, you often make plans in your head but you don't bother to share them."

The jonin sighed after he told his students what they did wrong. He had to find a way to make this work.

"I'll make you guys a deal." He began. "Everyday, at this time, you three will fight my shadow clone. If I believe your teamwork has improved, I'll start taking you on higher ranked missions."

Sasuke and Naruto perked up at that but Sakura remained the same. She didn't quite think she was ready for a mission like the one before. Not after what she had done.

Naruto's stomach grumbled which snapped the cherry blossom out of her thoughts. "I'm hungry." He whined as he rubbed his belly.

The Uchiha scoffed. "When are you not?" The blonde looked offended and he was about to respond with something vulgar, but after some thought, he inwardly agreed with Sasuke.

"Well, let's go to Ichiraku. Who's paying for my lunch?" Kakashi looked at his team expectantly.

Sakura sighed while sitting on the grass at the Training Field. Her sensei sat with her as it was their 'Talk Time'. She explained everything that happened on the mission. The girl noticed her sensei's disproval once she shared that she had an arguement with Ino. _That was quite unprofessional and let to Hinata getting grabbed by Futoshi._

"And the blue flames?" Kakashi asked Sakura.

"Chakra from the Gobi." The pinkette shrugged as if saying that was casual. "From Kokuo." She corrected herself.

"I'm not going to tell you how to feel." The jonin said. "Taking a life - it's not an easy thing to do but you protected your friend when doing it. Akihiko threatened Ino's life and you took him down so she wouldn't get hurt."

"Yeah, but..." She trailed off. "But... It feels weird. It's like- I didn't have the right to do that. I ended his life."

"And he tried to end yours and tried to end Ino's." Kakashi replied. "This will take time to pass but if you carry on with your life, it'll get easier."

 _Until I kill someone else._ Sakura thought sourly.

* * *

"Slumber party!" Ino squealed as Hinata smiled once their friend opened her house door.

"Eh?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, come on, Forehead. We used to do this all the time, but with Hinata, it'll be more fun." The two girls showed their bags that were completely filled with supplies.

"We understand if you're busy..." Hinata trailed off, a slight blush tinting her cheeks.

"I'm not." Sakura asked as she assessed her friends. This was clearly an attempt to lift up her spirits. "My parents are on a mission so I've been alone since we got back."

The trio walked into the living room. It was a small space that only had a rug, for sitting, near a book shelf. There were pictures of a young Sakura hung up on the wall - some with her parents. Another picture could be seen as soon as someone walked into the room. It was of Team Seven. Not the picture they first ever took together, but one they took after the Chunin Exams. Kakashi insisted to show their growth.

They were all seen standing in front of the logs at their favourite Training Zone. Naruto had wrapped his arm over Sakura's shoulder. The girl was in the middle - between her fellow jinchuriki and the Uchiha. Sasuke had turned his body slightly and his front was facing his female teammate as he gave a neutral look to the camera. He had since ditched the black robes and returned to wearing his blue clothes. Kakashi was smiling at the camera from behind them.

Hinata blushed at the picture of Naruto but she felt a pang in her chest at the sight of his arm around Sakura.

"I haven't been here in forever." Ino sighed as she threw her bag onto the floor and browsed the bookshelf. Taking a book out, she looked at Sakura. "Medical Ninjutsu?" The blonde questioned.

"Yeah. My dad recommended it for me." The pinkette answered as she and Hinata took a seat on the floor. "What do you guys want to do?" She asked.

"Why talk, of course!" Ino shrieked. "Let's talk about Hinata's crush on Naruto."

The shy girl's face was washed in the colour red and she became a stuttering mess. "I- I don- don-!"

"Come on!" Sakura smiled. "It's obvious to everyone. ...Well, except the doofus himself."

Hinata hung her head. "He doesn't like me back..."

"Of course he does!" Ino exclaimed. "You just have to make the first move."

"Invite him for some ramen." Sakura suggested. "He will never say no to ramen."

The Hyuga sighed and slowly nodded her head. She was terrified but if she did nothing, then what did she expect to happen? Naruto wouldn't suddenly start to like her.

"Sakura, your turn!" Ino announced. "What boys been on your mind lately?"

"Kakashi-sensei." Sakura's eyes immediately widened once she realised what she said. "I didn-"

"Ooooh!" Ino squealed as Hinata began to laugh. "Sakura!" She sang her rival's name. "Scandalous!" She sang again.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Sakura defended herself. "Just, after we came back, I've started having talks with him... About... About my first kill." She rushed out the ending but the girls caught it, immediately shutting up. Shaking her head, Sakura continued. "And with Sasuke-kun..." Ino looked at her friend curiously. "...I'm over him."

Silence.

Until...

"Oh my God!" Ino shouted. "I can't believe you just said that!"

"I know." Sakura whined. "I just... I don't see him as that... that perfect and handsome boy anymore."

The cherry blossom expected Ino to shout some more but was met with more silence. Looking at her rival, she noticed that the girl seemed to be in deep thought.

"You know..." The blonde began. "I feel the same way."

Silence.

Until...

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sakura was shocked. "Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch!" She clapped her hands with each 'bitch'.

 _This can't be happening._ Sakura thought.

 **"You're maturing."** Kokuo replied.

"It's just... He isn't as amazing as we initially thought." Ino said. "Being with the rest of Team Ten has made me realise that I need a family more than I need some man. Or boy. And Team Ten is my family."

Hinata and Sakura thought about this for a moment. Did they think of their teams as family?

"What about you guys?" Ino asked.

"I've gotten close with Naruto since becoming apart of Team Seven. And with Sasuke-kun too but in a non-fangirl way." Sakura smiled at the last part.

"At first, I thought I was going to drag my team down." Hinata admitted.

"I feel you." The rivals said at the same time.

"Well, not at first." The pinkette smirked.

"Yeah. At first, we wanted to be on Sasuke-kun's team. Which was impossible for me." Ino replied.

"You know," Sakura began as she stood up. "Why is it that the girls felt like they were going to bring down their teams?" She asked. "We were quick to second guess ourselves while those idiotic boys tried to steal all the glory!"

"Yeah!" Ino cheered.

"I mean, we're badass! ...And Ino's decent." The blonde glared at her rival before the two cheekily smiled at each other. "We completed a mission without those, ugh, boys!"

The girls laughed as Sakura sat back down. "Sakura, I've been meaning to ask you something." Ino wanted to choose her words carefully or she could just simply ask. She chose the latter. "What's the Gobi?"

Sakura froze. She didn't know if she was allowed to tell but what was the harm in it? It was her body, she could tell who she wanted. Well, with consent from her favourite dolphin-horse.

 _Can I tell them_ _, Kokuo-chan?_

 **"Yes but don't make me seem like too much of a monster. Just a bit would be nice, thank you."** The beast replied.

"Do you know of the Nine-Tails?" Sakura asked the girls who nodded their heads. "Well, the Kyuubi isn't the only... **one** like that. There's nine of them."

"There are nine Kyuubis?" Ino asked.

Sakura shook her head. "They're different. And I have one, the Gobi, sealed inside of me. The Five-Tailed dolphin-horse."

"What?" Hinata asked, shocked. "It's- It's inside you?" The cherry blossom nodded.

"On a mission with my father before the Chunin Exams, I was kidnapped." Ino put her hands on her mouth, stunned that Sakura had actually been taken."I don't remember much of it. But, after a while, I woke up in a hospital bed and found out that Kokuo, the Gobi's name, was sealed inside of me."

"It's sealed inside of you? It can talk to you? Like, right now?" Ino asked.

"Not 'it'. 'She'." The Team Seven ninja corrected her friend. "And yes. I can talk to her whenever I want." Sakura answered. "The Kyuubi is sealed within Naruto."

The pinkette covered her mouth, shocked and annoyed that she had just blurted out her friend's secret. Hinata's eyes widened and Ino looked like she was about to faint.

"What?!" The girls shrieked.

"I wasn't meant to tell you that." Sakura face-palmed. "God..."

"Wait." Ino started. "Is that why the two of you have red chakra?" The jinchuriki nodded. "Oh my God..."

"I've noticed that people treat us differently." Sakura said. "Like, to be blunt, people hate us. They treat us like we're monsters."

"Sakura..." Ino and Hinata looked at their friend sadly.

"And, you know what's even worse?" She asked. "The majority of us treated Naruto like shit when we were growing up and he was already dealing with... all of that."

It was quiet in the house now. The Hyuga girl felt like she was about to cry, Ino looked at the ground forlornly and the pinkette felt like punching something.

"I feel so bad." Ino admitted, standing. "God... Fuck it, let's go treat Naruto to some ramen for dinner." The other girls looked at her with confused expressions. "Oh, come on, he loves food. And we can help Hinata out." The shy girl blushed.

Sakura stood up. "I had ramen for lunch..."

"And you're going to eat it again because he is your friend and we owe it to him." Ino responded.

 _Ugh._ Sakura thought. _Friendship is hard._


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N Thanks for 60 reviews!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 23**

"Sakura, you're on the till today." Ino said as she pushed a trolley filled with flowers around her family's shop. Sakura nodded and got behind the counter.

Kakashi had told his student that, to get her mind off of things, she needed a distraction. When telling Ino, her rival suggested that she work in the Yamanaka Flower Shop. It wasn't a very complex job so the cherry blossom got the hang of it quite easily. And the pay was alright so that was a win too.

Sakura found it weird about how much she learnt since working in the shop. Sasuke would drop by once a week. He would exchange greetings with his teammate and they would discuss training or missions for a minute or two. After, he would buy the exact same flowers as the week before and walk out. Ino's team often stopped by for various reasons such as giving her training times, telling her about upcoming missions and, normally, just to hang out. Lee, in his handicapped state, often came in but only because he had a lot of free time. Tenten maybe followed him along with Gai sometimes but not a lot.

Recently, Naruto began showing up since learning of his favourite teammate's new job. He didn't buy anything, he only hung out but sometimes he, Sakura, Ino and Hinata would go out for ramen (or rarely something new) like they often did since that day the Team Seven kunoichi revealed her's and the blonde's jinchuriki status to her friends.

It was currently the afternoon. Sakura sighed as she rubbed the side of her arm. She had recieved a nasty blow there from her sensei during Team Seven's team exercise match against a Kakashi shadow clone. The jonin still didn't really think there teamwork had improved much. Because of this, the three genin planned to train later on in the day; at night.

"How long do you think they're going to take choosing the next Hokage?" Ino asked, watering some plants at the back of the store.

"I thought the next Hokage was going to be Jiraiya-sama. I couldn't believe it when Naruto told me he had actually been training under a sannin. They might have another canidate if it's taking this long." Sakura replied, sighing once again. The downside to working here was the moments when no one was present. Counter duty required an individual to stand in one spot all day - waiting for someone to come in and buy something.

The bell at the door jingled as Hinata stumbled in. The shy girl greeted her friends quite loudly (for Hinata). _I'm glad she's slowly coming out of her shell._ Sakura thought.

"What did you two do in the morning?" The Hyuga asked.

"Asuma-sensei took a nap and Shikamaru decided to join him. Chouji sat there and ate food. Because of all the idiotic males in my team, I trained by myself." The blonde huffed.

"I got my ass handed to me by my sensei's shadow clone and then went on to do various D-Rank missions which made me question my life choices." Sakura answered. "What about you?"

"Kurenai-sensei tried teaching us some genjutsu but I didn't quite get the hang of it." Hinata sighed in defeat.

"Well, you're more suited towards taijutsu." Ino said. "And genjutsu seems like something suited towards Sakura compared to everyone else in the Rookie Nine. ...Well, excluding Sharingan Uchiha."

The pinkette shook her head. "I can release it but using it is a whole other story." She laughed. "And I'm more of a ninjustu kinda girl."

"Yeah, Mrs Four Nature Releases."

 ** _"We try."_** Both Kokuo and Sakura stated, the pinkette flipping her hair as she said so and the beast using her telepathy. Ino's and Hinata's eyebrows raised at the voice in their heads but they were used to it now.

It seemed as though Kokuo was Sakura's friend as well as theirs.

* * *

Three genin were currently sitting on the ground of a Training Field. It was late in the night but none of them planned to go home soon. Or at all.

"Teamwork isn't just combo techniques." Sakura said to Naruto. They had been practicing but the girl wanted to tackle their biggest weakness. "We may have some of that down but we need to work on our weaknesses as a team: Strategy." The boys regarded her with confused expressions. "Sasuke, you and I often come up with strategies in our heads but we fail to share it - either thinking we can do it on our own or just not bothering at all. Naruto, you usually just run into battle, not thinking about what the hell you are doing."

"We need a form of communication." Sasuke said. "If we came up with something, we can't just run up to each other and whisper a strategy in the midst of battle."

"Yeah." Naruto agreed. "But what should it be?" Team Seven pondered over this for a while.

"Maybe Naruto's shadow clones could help with that." Sakura suggested. "I mean, we could make a sign so that Naruto can make a bunch of shadow clones and get at least one of his clones to one of us. We can tell his clone the strategy and, when it disperses, Naruto will get that information. And if Naruto comes up with a strategy, he can get one of his clones to tell us." She explained.

"What should the sign be?" Naruto asked, excited that his jutsu was a vital part in this.

"Something simple. How about three taps on our forehead protectors for now?" Sakura tapped her forehead protector which was attached to her neck.

Sasuke nodded. "We'll try it out against Kakashi-sensei tomorrow." Sakura and Naruto looked at the Uchiha oddly. "What?" He asked, annoyed.

"Nothing... Just never heard you call him Kakashi-'sensei' before." Sakura explained, standing up.

"Aww... Sasuke showing me respect? Now I've seen it all." Kakashi appeared in a poof, making Sakura yelp in surprise.

"You didn't hear anything, did you?" The girl asked.

"Only the 'Kakashi-sensei' part." The jonin answered, making the three genin sigh in relief. "As much as I love it when the three of you train together without me telling you to, you three do realise resting is an important part of a shinobi's life, right?"

"We don't need to rest!" Naruto yelled. "We'll still kick your ass!"

"Hmm..." Kakashi put his hand on his covered chin. "Follow me." The man began to walk away. After giving each other confused looks, the students obeyed their sensei.

* * *

After a lot of "Are we there yet?"s, Team Kakashi stood in front of the Forest of Death. Sakura cringed and touched her hair because of everything that happened here, Sasuke grunted and looked away and Naruto seemed to be the only one of the three who was unaffected.

"What are we doing here?" The pinkette asked Kakashi as they walked into the forest.

"Since you guys are so energetic today, I thought that we could do some chakra control activities." The silver-haired man replied. They walked until they were met with a colossal tree. It's enormous trunk towered over every other tree in the forest.

"How about a tree-climbing race?" The jonin smiled at them.

"A race?"

"Yes, Sakura. A race. Heard of it?" The cherry blossom scowled at her teacher.

"I'm in!" Naruto cheered. "What does the winner get?!"

"Mm... Let's see." Kakashi sat on a nearby tree stump as he thought of a prize. "Naruto, if you win, I'll teach you any ninjutsu you want." The blonde's eyes lit up. "Sasuke, I'll teach you some genjutsu with the Sharingan." The raven-haired ninja tried to look uninterested but ultimately failed. "And Sakura, I'll teach you lighting release."

These were all things his students had asked him before, but he refused as they still hadn't mastered teamwork. Determination spread across their faces as they glared up at the daunting tree.

"Okay. Three, two one...!" Kakashi took out his perverted book. "...Go!"

Focusing their chakra, the genin sped up the tree. Naruto faltered slightly but held on and Sasuke was slowing down. The pinkette was currently in the lead, smirking at the thought of learning her final nature release.

 _Why is it so hot?_ Sakura thought. It was meant to be a cold night but she felt something heating her up from behind. Looking back, she saw an orange fireball heading towards her. Scrambling out of the way, the female jinchuriki fell back causing Sasuke to leap into the lead.

 _So we're playing dirty..._ Sakura thought. Forming a Cherry Blossom Clone, the girl threw it up at the Uchiha. It landed on his back and began pulling out his hair. Laughing, she sped into the lead once again and Naruto also overtook Sasuke.

The Nine-Tailed jinchuriki formed a bunch of clones. A few ran down the tree at Sasuke, and the majority ran up at Sakura.

The sharingan user was too busy dealing with Sakura's clone to notice the Dobe's multiple clones running down at him. They all charged at him, making him fall to the ground.

"Fuck." He grunted and quickly began running up the tree once again.

"Language." Kakashi scolded as he continued to read Icha Icha Paradise.

Back with Sakura, she defeated Naruto's clones and sent a barage of water bullets down at him. He dodged them all and used another clone to throw himself up. The blonde landed right beside the pinkette and the two began a hand-to-hand battle.

It was hard to battle on a tree but Sakura could handle it. She was winning the fight since her teammate was focusing on staying on the tree rather than fighting her. But, finally, he faltered and fell. Grabbing onto a branch, Naruto swang himself up and began running again.

The cherry blossom looked to the top of the tree but, instead, saw a flame dragon.

 _Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!_

It was weak. It required a lot of chakra and for water to be conjured up out of thin air but it still did the trick. The dragons collided and fought in the air, eventually both disappearing as the genin began running up again.

Sasuke was now in the lead, Sakura was second however, Naruto was close behind.

Sakura caught up to Sasuke and Naruto caught up to the both of them. The three genin could see the top and only focused on getting there first. Side by side, they ran at their full speed to try and win.

"You lose!"

Kakashi appeared in front of them as soon as they almost reached the top. Hit by a surprising wind attack, the students fell down like bowling pins.

They landed on the ground in a pile. Naruto at the bottom, Sakura on top and Sasuke was wedged in the middle. Groaning, they all stood up before shooting daggers at their sensei - who was laughing histerically.

"What the hell was that?!" The three of them screamed at their teacher (including Sasuke).

"What?" Kakashi played innocent. "I never said I wasn't joining in." He continued to laugh.

"Now..." The man walked up to his students. "Go to sleep!"

 **A/N As fun as it was writing these filler chapters and such, Tsunade Search Arc will commence next chapter.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 24**

It was unlike him. He never thought in a million years that he would do something like this. Kakashi had never tucked anyone into bed before but ever since he met his genin team, his life had been full of changes.

Sasuke and Sakura collapsed from chakra exauhstion after the jonin yelled at them to go to bed. His three students were asleep on the floor - although he believed Naruto was just faking it because he didn't want to walk - so Kakashi used his shadow clones to carry them home. He wished he didn't though. His genin all did... weird things in their sleep (the weird things confirmed that Naruto was indeed asleep).

Naruto sang about ramen, Sasuke screamed because of his nightmares and Sakura ranked the 'hottness' of the boys she knew. Kakashi didn't know how to feel about being tied first with Sasuke but he settled for feeling disturbed and uncomfortable. And it seemed that, even though she had changed a lot since she first became a genin, she was still a fangirl at heart. Plus, it seemed that his genin had a crush on him which was another similarity the pinkette had with Rin.

Since Sakura and Naruto would be leaving the next day, Kakashi decided that it was time to have a word with Sasuke about his night terrors.

* * *

"How did I get here...?" Sakura asked out loud once she woke up in her bedroom. The bijuu in her let out a laugh. "What?"

 **"Nothing..."** The beast continued to laugh. Kokuo witnessed Kakashi's reaction to the cherry blossom ranking the 'hottness' of people she knew and it was quite comical.

"Alright..." The genin replied and proceeded to get ready for the day.

"Sakura Haruno! Where were you last night?!" Mebuki shrieked as she stormed into her daughter's room.

 _Shit._ Sakura thought.

 **"Shit indeed."**

* * *

Once the Team Seven kunoichi made it to the usual bridge, she noticed that Naruto was already waiting, sitting on the ground. The blonde was reading from a scroll; it was unamed. His face was tense as he read, either he was having trouble reading or he didn't understand what he was reading. Maybe even both.

"Naruto-kun!" The cherry blossom waved. Said boy looked at the direction of his name being called and waved back, a giant grin spreading across his face. It was wider than usual and Sakura suspected it was because of the honorific she was now accustomed to calling him. "What are you reading?"

"I wanna learn a new jutsu." The boy admitted. "I wanna use the jutsus that you and Sasuke-teme use."

"Which ones?" She sat beside him.

"The nature ones." Naruto replied. "But I don't know how to do it. I got this scroll from the library."

Sakura took the scroll from the boy - hiding her surprise that he actually went to the library - and began scanning its contents. "Naruto-kun, this contains Fire Release Jutsu." The kunoichi said. "Do you have a fire chakra affinity?"

"A what?" The Nine-Tails' host asked.

"Every ninja has a set chakra nature. Maybe multiple, it depends. I have a Earth and Wind style chakra. And, Sasuke-kun's is Lightning."

"But you can use Fire and Water and Teme can use Fire?" The boy looked confused. _This is more complex than I_ _thought._ He added as an after-thought.

"Yeah, we can." Sakura said. "Tell you what, I'll help you find out your affinity and I'll help teach you some new jutsu if you help me with some stamina training." The pinkette knew why Naruto wanted to learn a new jutsu. His number one technique was the Shadow Clone Jutsu so his limited ninjutsu arsenal held him back in battle.

"Really?!" The gutsy ninja asked, stars shining in his eyes. Sakura nodded, happy that she made him happy. "Deal!"

"There you are!" A loud voice exclaimed. In a poof on the bridge, Jiraiya appeared. He posed, which made Sakura cringe.

"Ero-sennin!" Naruto exclaimed back. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I thought I'd take the two of you on a little field trip." He said, smiling widely.

"To where?" The blonde asked, already excited.

"To Tanzaku Town."

 _I've heard of that place before._ Sakura thought. _Yeah, on the mission with Otou-san. When I was..._

"We have training and missions though." The cherry blossom informed the old man.

"Don't worry! I've already spoken to your sensei and he agreed that this would benefit you greatly!" The Toad Sage cheered.

"Are you going to train us?" Naruto asked.

"You bet!" The sannin posed once again. "Now, go get ready and meet me at the Village Gate!" He left just as he came; in a cloud of white smoke.

 _What about Sasuke-kun?_ Sakura wondered but the thought left her mind once Naruto began cheering loudly. _I should bring some stuff to help him with this chakra nature training. I feel like I owe it to him._

 **"Tailed-Beast host to Tailed-Beast host. I like it. No wonder you have a crush on him."**

 _I do not!_ The genin's face turned the colour of her hair.

 **"Right. He was third on the list."**

 _On the what?_

 **"Nevermind."** Kokuo laughed.

* * *

Sakura packed quickly for the trip while explaining the circumstances to her mother and father. They took it very lightly which surprised her. She expected her mother to go on a rampage while her father would try to calm her down but ultimately fail. But, instead, her mother only told her to keep safe and her father gave her some more ninja tools.

The pinkette packed some scrolls for her teammate and asked her father for some of that paper that told the user what their chakra affinity was. She was taking this seriously. For Naruto.

* * *

Sakura didn't expect Jiraiya to want to stop so quickly. They had only traveled about an hour away from the village and he already wanted to stop for lunch. Naruto was currently diving for fish in a nearby pond as his master was setting up a fire. Sakura was unsure of what to do so she only sat next to the Toad Sage.

"So what am I doing here?" The pinkette asked the old man. He turned towards her - eyebrows raised - but he smiled. "Well, I'm guessing it has something to do with mine and Naruto-kun's... special circumstances or you would have only brought him along and not me."

"You're very smart, Sakura." Jiraiya said. "You remind me of my old teammate - which is why I'm taking you along."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The kunoichi asked.

The man didn't answer. Instead, he asked her something. "Naruto's told me that his heroes are people who work hard to get where they want to be. Who's your hero, Sakura?"

The cherry blossom had already thought about this. After the chunin exams, there was one man who would always be in the back of her mind as she trained. This man would drive her to get stronger so she could protect the Leaf Village.

"The Third Hokage." She answered. "Before, when I first became a genin, I didn't have a hero. To be honest, I didn't think much of Sandaime-sama. But ever since the Land of the Waves, and meeting Kokuo-chan, I've changed my perspective on... everything. I'm not a liability anymore."

"Yes, I agree that you've changed a lot since your days at the academy, based on what Kakashi has told me. You've learnt a lot more jutsu, not that jutsu are everything, like that Cherry Blossom Clone Technique. What's up with that?It's similar to the Shadow Clone Jutsu."

Sakura blushed because of how she learnt it. "I admired Naruto-kun's use of it during our first test with Kakashi-sensei so I developed my own variation of the jutsu."

Jiraiya smiled down at the girl as he used a flame jutsu to light the fire. "That takes a lot of work, kid."

"Yeah." The pinkette agreed. "I was only able to make one by the time of the Land of the Waves and it took a shit-loa-! Uh... a boat-load of chakra to use. But, with Kokuo-chan's chakra, I can make a lot more. Still not as much as Naruto-kun can..."

"Sakura-chan, look!" The Dobe's yell startled the kunochi for a moment but, after recollecting herself, she looked over at the soaking wet blonde. He was smiling while running over to her, a bucket of fish in his hand. "Look at how many I caught!" He showed her the bucket.

"That's amazing, Naruto-kun." Sakura smiled - causing the boy's grin to widen. Jiraiya smirked at his student's desire to impress the Five-Tails' jinchuriki.

* * *

"It's so loud." Sakura commented when the trio were walking through the streets of Tanzaku Town. They could barely move with the amount of people going shopping or finding a place to eat or even playing the numerous games they had set up. It was like a carnival 24/7.

"Hmm." Jiraiya agreed. "Okay, so you two can go exploring while I run an errand. I'll find you later and take you to our hotel." The old man said.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered. He had his eye on this purple bear that he wanted to win for Sakura. It was a ring toss game so he thought he had a chance at winning it.

The blonde took out his frog wallet and the pinkette laughed at the sight of it. It was filled to the brim with money that Naruto had, no doubt, saved up from his missions. To be honest, the cherry blossom didn't know that her Dobe of a teammate could be so responsible. Well, with money.

"Hey, kid, don't be spending all of that." The Toad Sage had a mischevious glint in his eyes. He took the wallet out of his student's hands and placed a bit of money into Naruto's hand from it. "I'll hold onto it for you."

"Okay!" Naruto exclaimed. The kunoichi eyed the old man. "Sakura-chan, let's go!" The blonde grabbed onto her hand and they ran off to the ring toss stand.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N Sorry for such a late update. I've been so caught up with life lately that I haven't gotten the time to write.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 25**

After a lot of money spent, Naruto dejectedly walked by Sakura who was holding the purple teddy. The blonde failed miserably at the ring toss stand and it had only taken the pinkette one try to win. She was gloating as they were walking through the town, her chin up and a very un-Sakura smirk ghosting over her face.

Naruto sighed as his teammate dragged him to another game. It was a test your strength. Of course, Sakura easily won.

 _I thought these were meant to be hard._ The cherry blossom thought as she accepted the brown teddy bear from the man who ran the game. He looked frightened of her. _I wonder why..._ The duo played many games throughout the day. Sakura won all of them and Naruto followed sadly behind her while holding all of her prizes. They consisted of many childish toys and food.

"I feel like today has been a successful day." Sakura smiled while shoving a dumpling in her mouth. The blonde sighed once again. "Where to next?" She asked him.

"How about somewhere that's not here...?"

Sakura thought for a moment. The two of them could get away from the town and go to the outskirts to train. Naruto wanted to learn his chakra affinity and the kunoichi had the supplies for him.

Explaining this to her teammate, he suddenly found a bounce in his step and began hurrying over to where they were going to train - dropping a lot of the pinkette's prizes on the way.

"Hey, wait for me!" Sakura cried while running after him.

* * *

"It's boring." The blonde groaned, a piece of yellow paper in between his right index and middle finger.

"It'll tell you your affinity." Sakura said, rolling her eyes. His whining was getting on her nerves. It took a while, yes, but no need to complain all the damn time!

"Ah!" Naruto yelped as the paper split into two right down the middle. "What does that mean?" He asked his teammate.

"It means that you have a Wind chakra nature." She replied.

"Does that mean you can teach me how to fight with a fan and make a giant cylone to destroy my enemies?" The boy asked, his eyes shining.

Sakura laughed. "Maybe later. I have to explain somethings to you first." He nodded. The girl went on to explain how he should invision his chakra because of his affinity. "You don't even need to pour chakra into a weapon." Her hand began glowing blue and Naruto was in awe. "It works just like a kunai but it's not, if that makes sense."

"Can I do that?!" Naruto asked - more like yelled.

"Maybe later." She repeated as her hand stopped glowing blue. "How about we focus on you trying to-" She stopped herself. Sakura was able to get this the first time mainly because of her prowess in chakra control. But, Naruto would have a tough time with this particular activity. She remembered how her father learnt Wind Style and decided that it would benefit him more if she taught him like that.

"Go get a leaf." The blonde sprang up and jumped into a nearby bush. "You just had to pick one." The kunoichi laughed at her friend's antics.

 _I wonder how long it is going to take him to cut a leaf._

* * *

 _This is going to take weeks..._ Sakura thought as Naruto continued to try and rip the leaf with his chakra. Many hours had passed and he was still going at it - determined as ever.

"Maybe we should take a break?" The pinkette suggested on the sidelines. Her question was met with groans of protest. "Naruto-kun, you need to learn to give things time." She rolled her eyes.

The blonde sighed and let the leaf fall out of his hands. "I guess we should find Ero-sennin..."

"He said he was going to find us, but it's been so long..." Sakura said. "Let's go back into town and try and find him."

 _I've been working on my sensory skills. Hopefully, I can recognise his chakra._

* * *

It wasn't very hard to find the bastard. The sannin was in a bar, with multiple women whom he had bought multiple drinks for, and he had spent all of Naruto's money. It was a sad sight for the jinchuriki to see his deflated frog wallet, which once contained so much of his money.

But, the boy had a saviour. Sakura gave the old man an earful about stealing money and made him feel like a chatisised child. Now, Naruto was going to get all his money back in due time.

 _Sakura-chan is like a big sister... Or a mum!_ The Nine-Tails' host thought.

Seeing Sakura going all mother hen on Jiraiya wasn't the only delight Naruto saw that day. On the way to their hotel, a man began giving the sannin a hard time. Naruto wasn't really sure what had instigated the arguement but it resulted in Jiraiya using some sort of technique on the man called a Rasengan.

It was a small blue ball formed in the user's hand. It consisted of small chakra threads spinning in a circular motion frantically and sent the user's opponent spiralling.

The old man had revealed that he was planning on teaching that to Naruto. The blonde then proceeded to hug the man who was like a grandfather to him.

"What are you thinking about, Naruto-kun?" The pink-haired kunoichi asked her teammate. He was laughing to himself on his bed that he had just made. He slept in the same room as her but she was used to it from the Land of the Waves, when they were at Tsunami's house.

It was their second say in Tanzaku Town and they didn't really know what they had to do. Jiraiya had left suddenly and the two jinchuriki were, once again, left on their own.

"Nothing." Naruto laughed again. "Let's get to training!" He cheered and began to sprint for the door.

"Wait!" Sakura stopped him. He paused and looked back at her. "...I want to talk to you." She said it quietly and Naruto had the feeling that he should sit down. They were sitting opposite each other, on their own beds, in silence.

"What is it?" The blonde asked, breaking the silence.

"We never spoke about it." She said. "About Kurama and Kokuo-chan."

He was confused. "Who are they?"

Sakura blinked. "The Nine-Tails and Five-Tails."

"Oh... Oh!" So, she wanted to talk about that. Of course, it was a shock when Naruto learnt that his teammate was like him during the whole Chunin Exams fiasco but it gave him a sense of comfort. It gave him the comfort that he was not alone.

"Um... How long has the fox been... sealed within you?" Sakura asked, a tad awkwardly.

"All my life." The Team Seven boy answered. "You?"

"Just before Chunin Exams. Remember the mission with my dad? The one which resulted with me in the hospital? Some Land of Earth ninja sealed her within me then."

"Really?!" The blonde was shocked. "It hasn't been that long for you. I didn't suspect a thing."

"Not many people were told - some people know but I don't know how - and I've only told Ino-pig and Hinata-chan. ...They know about you. Sorry."

"It's fine!" Naruto said, finding some reason to smile widely.

 **"Kurama?"** Kokuo said from within Sakura, trying to connect with the fox. **"Kurama?"** There was still no response. **"Kurama, you bastard, answer me!"**

Sakura inwardly laughed. _Kokuo-chan gets her rage on._

 _Hello?_ The voice stopped her. That was not her and she heard it in her head. Looking at Naruto, she saw that he mirrored her expression.

 _...Naruto-kun?_

The blonde's eyebrows raised. He was shocked. They were communicating in their heads!

 _Whoa..._ The blonde remarked.

 _Kokuo-chan, are you doing this?_ Sakura asked.

 **"Kurama, you always used to ignore me when we were little, back when I only had one horn, so you better not ignore me now that we're older!"**

 _She's too far down the path of rage to listen to anyone._ Sakura dryly commented. _I'm guessing this is happening because she's connecting to Kurama._

 _That's what Kokuo sounds like!_ Naruto screeched, his face scrunching. _She's scary..._

 _Well,_ Sakura began. _She was nice when we first met but, I guess, she's taken after me now, in a way._

 **"Sakura!"** The dolphin-horse suddenly shouted. **"I need you to touch Naruto!"**

 _I'm gonna need some more context. And don't ever say that again._

 **"You dumbass! Hold his hand or something so I can see Kurama!"**

The pinkette was shocked. "You can-"

 **"Just do it!"**

Sakura jumped and grabbed onto Naruto's hand roughly. Immediately, she found herself - and Naruto - in a all too familiar dark chamber. However, this time there were two cages. One on Sakura's side and the other on Naruto's.

 **"What?"** A rough voice asked, produced from Naruto's side. Sakura assumed it was Kurama. His voice was deep and could strike fear into anyone. However, the Team Seven duo had experienced Kokuo and her rage so he was second on their lists.

The cherry blossom found herself turning around, facing her cage. She could only see darkness from within it.

 _I've never actually seen her before._

"Kokuo-chan?" Sakura called as she noticed Naruto had run over to her side. He seemed confused and Sakura kind of felt the same.

There was no response from within the cage and Sakura was about to call out again. Only, a knock at their door made the Team Seven duo jolt up. They both shared a look with each other that stated 'we need to do that again'.

The kunoichi stood up and opened the door. Two men were revealed. They both wore black cloaks with red clouds on them. One had a giant sword on his back and the other...

 _He looks a lot like Sasuke-kun._ Sakura thought.

"Good for us. They're together." The one who looked like a shark smiled devilishly - as if he knew that the jinchuriki were going to be togther.

The Five-Tails' host had a bad feeling. These men... This was no normal visit.

"Kisame, no." The one who looked like Sasuke said. The cherry blossom didn't know why.

Sakura hid her hand behind the door and transferred chakra to it to form a scalpel. No doubt, Naruto would notice and get himself ready for anything to happen. She coughed. "May I help you?"

"Come on, Itachi. Let me cut off a leg. Or her head." Kisame said. The one called Itachi didn't respond.

"It's been a long time..." He finally said. Sakura was about to say that she didn't know who he was. But, then she thought that maybe this was Sasuke in disguise. However, what happened next knocked the daylights out of her.

"...Sasuke."

The cherry blossom moved her eyes to the right side of the hall to find her raven-haired teammate. He seemed stunned and angry at the same time - if that was possible.

"Hey... He looks a lot like you." The shark-man said. "Just who is he?"

Sakura was not prepared. Neither was Naruto. Or even Kisame.

"...My little brother."


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N Just want to let you know that I kinda quickly went through the encounter with Itachi. Sorry if you're disappointed.**

 **I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to update. I have exams coming up and usually have little time to write. And when I have time, I find myself with no passion to write. It's slowly coming back though.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**.

 **Chapter 2** **6**

It was a shock - to say the least. Who knew that Sasuke had a brother? What was even more shocking was the pure hatred the Uchiha boy had for his elder sibling. To use the Chidori on him signified that they were obviously not on good terms.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried once Itachi held her teammate against the wall, stopping the ferocious attack with just his hand. On instinct, the pinkette stepped forward but Kisame got in her way. Watching him tower over her, she felt a sense of fear travel throughout her entire body and she froze.

 _What is this? I need to do something!_

"Not so fast, Gobi." The shark reached for his sword but a barrage of Naruto clones came out from behind Sakura. Swinging the sword, the Akatsuki member made quick work of the clones and proceeded to swipe at the kunoichi. However, the Toad Sage appeared in a white poof and kicked at the sword. Kisame slid back and smirked. "This will be fun."

Just as Kisame finished speaking, Gai arrived. He said a few words - but Sakura didn't hear him because she was focusing on Itachi and Sasuke - and did a few poses before getting into his fighting stance.

"No." Itachi said to his teammate, walking away from an unconscious Sasuke. "They're too strong and this is too much attention we want. We'll retreat for now."

Jiraiya wouldn't have it. Placing his hands on the floor, he used his Ninja Art: Toad Mouth Trap and the setting began to turn pink - looking like the inside of a mouth. The Akatsuki members began to flee, and flames from the sanin's jutsu followed them. But, in the end, they got away. A huge hole in the wall marked their escape.

"Who were they?" Sakura asked the blonde's master before running over to her fallen teammate. Naruto followed her.

"The Akatsuki." He answered. "They were after what's inside of you two." The Gallant then turned to Gai and began to speak to him.

The teammates shared a look with each other. Sakura wondered why people were so obsessed with the Tailed-Beasts. First Akihiko and now there was a whole organisation after them.

"He isn't waking up." Naruto said, referring to his rival. "We have to get him help."

"Sakura, Naruto. I need to tell you why we actually came here." Jiraiya said. "I'm searching for a woman named Tsunade. She's a medical ninja and she could treat Sasuke."

Sakura could vaguely recall the name from somewhere but she couldn't remember where. "So we just find her and Sasuke'll be okay?" She asked and the sanin nodded.

Gai then took Sasuke back to Konoha while Naruto and Sakura began the search for Tsunade with Jiraiya.

* * *

Finding this woman was a lot harder than it seemed at first. In actuality, Jiraiya wasn't even sure she was in Tanzaku Town, but he said that there was a high possibility that she was since she was addicted to gambling.

It had been a couple of days and they still hadn't found her. Naruto still trained with both Sakura and Jiraiya but the former found herself getting bored when she had nothing to do. When Naruto wasn't training to use the Rasengan, he was looking for Tsunade, training his Wind nature with his fellow jinchuriki or going through stamina exercises with her instead.

"I did it!" The blonde cheered as he threw the two pieces of leaf into the air. The cut was odd and wonky but he had still done it.

"Great." Sakura said, relieved that he was finally done with that. "Maybe we should find something bigger for you to cut." She began to look around the field but more complaining from her teammate stopped her.

"Can you just show me one Wind jutsu? Please!" He begged and the cherry blossom relented.

She walked over to a tree and was ready to strike it down. _Wind Style: Deep Breath Jutsu!_ Pushing her chakra up her throat, a huge gust of wind was let out of her mouth and headed towards the tree. The tree was blown off the spot and sent flying away.

"Whoa!" Naruto cheered. "That was awesome! I'm gonna be able to do that, believe it!"

"Maybe you should try adding chakra to your kunai now." The kunoichi suggested as she sat back down with him. He took out a ninja tool and concentrated with his eyes closed. Blue chakra appeared around it.

"Did I do it?" Naruto asked, opening his eyes and admiring the kunai.

"Uh... Kind of." Sakura replied. "You transferred chakra to it but it's bumpy. Wind chakra needs to be sharp, like a blade, remember?"

"Right." He closed his eyes again and began to concentrate. Sakura noticed a change, it was getting sharp but he wasn't quite getting it right. Every few seconds, the chakra around the kunai would change as Naruto tried to get it correct. He was improving, the kunoichi would give him that, but maybe him using Wind Style was better than transferring chakra to create a blade for him specifically.

* * *

"Have you seen a woman who's probably so drunk off her ass that she doesn't even know where she is?" Sakura heard Jiraiya ask someone and she rolled her eyes. The person, whom the sannin was asking, quickly walked away.

"I'm hungry..." Naruto groaned out his favourite words to his teammate. It was getting late and it had passed dinner time long ago.

"Can we get something to eat?" Sakura asked Jiraiya. He seemed to think about it for a while before ultimately agreeing. The old man already had a restaurant in mind and the trio made their way to it.

 _I wonder how great this Tsunade is... If she can help Sasuke-kun, she must be amazing at Medical Ninjutsu._

 **"I've been around long enough to know a bit about her."** Kokuo admitted. **"For starters, she is known as the world's greatest medic and strongest Kunoichi. And she was given the title 'Sannin' along with Orochimaru and Jiraiya when they faced Hanzo of the Salamander and survived."**

 _The world's strongest Kunochi?_ Sakura thought. _To be known as such a powerful woman..._ Sakura wished she could achieve this once day.

"Ero-sennin..." Naruto whispered - thinking his teammate couldn't here him. "Look at how big that woman's breasts are."

Sakura felt the need to beat the shit out of him but, once she saw the Toad Sage's reaction, she became intrigued in this big-breasted woman.

Looking at the woman, the pinkette immediately knew that this was Tsunade. She just looked like a Tsunade.

The two sannins having a reunion wasn't all happy and nostalgic. Instead, Tsunade seemed annoyed.

"Let's go in. My treat." Jiraiya offered and the cherry blossom noted how different he was when he was with his teammate. It was like how Naruto was with her.

Reluctantly, the drunk agreed and all five of them (there was another woman with Tsunade) went into the restaurant.

* * *

As soon as they sat down, the blonde woman demanded to know why Konoha ninja had come to see her. Jiraiaya had told her to calm down and order something but she only glared at him. (She also asked why her teammate was babysitting two genin but Jiraiya didn't grace her question with an answer).

Sakura wondered what the Toad Sage's business was with the woman. Whatever it was, the pinkette hoped that they would hurry so Tsunade could heal Sasuke.

"After the death of Sarutobi-sensei, Tsunade, you have been offered the title of Fifth Hokage." Sakura's head whipped to Naruto who was staring intently at the Hokage candidate. After so long, Konoha was going to have a Hokage and it was this woman who they had just met.

"Never in a thousand years." Was her answer. Sakura whipped her head once again but to Tsunade this time. _Did she just... refuse?! Why?!_

"All of the other Hokage..." She continued. "Sarutobi-sensei. They were all fools."

Sakura felt herself heat up. Her fist clenched on the table and the other woman, Shizune, noticed. Who did she think she was to call them all fools? The Hokage had all protected Konoha! What had this woman done?!

 _Calling Sandaime-sama a fool?!_

"No one insults the old man while I'm around!" Naruto yelled, slamming his hand onto the table. The pervert of an old man tried to calm his student but to no avail. Sakura's teammate and Tsunade began to argue, and then curse at each other until Naruto challenged her to a battle.

"Is that wise?" Sakura asked him as they now stood outside.

"She insulted the Hokage." Was the boisterous blond's response.

The fight was over with a flick, literally. The Hokage candidate flicked him and he flew away.

 _Holy shit._ Sakura cursed. _Holy motherfucking shit! What the hell is she?!_

"Jiraiya." Big Breasts was mad. "How dare you teach him that move?"

"What?" Her teammate asked. "He's learning a new jutsu. What of it?"

"Not correctly. His technique is flimsy, it's insulting."

"That's why we train." Sakura spoke to the woman for the first time. "No one ever gets it perfect the first time." Tsunade regarded the pinkette with interest.

"I'll learn it." Naruto said, dusting himself off. "And I'll clobber you next time."

"Oh, yeah? Wanna bet?" The female sanin asked, taking her eyes off of Sakura.

A bet was made that day. Naruto was determined to win (even though all he got was some crummy necklace. Sakura thought the only reason he agreed to the bet was to try and win something after being beaten badly). Jiraiya forced the genin duo back to the hotel after that. A new hotel after what had happened to the last.

 _Now that Naruto's going to be training his Rasengan more, I need to do some more independant training._ Sakura thought. _Maybe I should brush up on chakra control tomorrow._

* * *

Sakura stood, all by her lonesome, in the outskirts of Tanzaku Town. She had just finished warming up and, now, the sun had completely risen. Taking out a scroll from her bag, Sakura began reading the contents of a basic medical textbook. This sudden interest in medical ninjutsu may have sparked from seeing Tsunade even though Sakura always kept the book in her bag just in case she wanted to do some light reading. However, she had never opened up the front page.

An hour later and Sakura was hooked. It was all... intriguing, to say the least. Not just did being a medical ninja mean you needed to do the weird chakra glow thing, you also needed a vast knowledge in herbs and plants. You needed to know what worked with what and why it did. _Okay, it's more interesting than I'm making it out to be._ But, Sakura berated herself for reading when she was supposed to be training and began to do some chakra control exercises.

If only she had seen the curious person spying on her.

* * *

Day one of the bet was over. Two more remained. Sakura hoped the next two days came and went quickly. She just wanted to go home. She needed to see if Sasuke was alright and she felt like she had no purpose here, in Tanzaku Town.

That night, Sakura dreamed of being awarded a certificate for being the best medical ninja in the world. She dreamed that she was praised for her ability to heal five people at once. And she was praised for her-

Without warning, her nice dream shifted into a nightmare with Konoha at night, calm and quiet. Until it exploded and a grey figure, that looked all too familiar to Sakura, was seen running away, seemingly responsible.

 **A/N I will update Sakura of the Sharingan soon. If you haven't read that yet, I recommend you do so.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 27**

"Shannaro!" Sakura cried as she slammed her fist into the ground. A small crater was formed and a nearby merchant leaped in fear of the shock. "Sorry." The kunoichi said to him and he laughed with a wave.

It was the second day after the bet was made between Naruto and Tsunade. The blonde was still hard at work learning the Rasengan. Sakura didn't know how far he was but Jiraiya spoke proudly of him every time she asked. Last night, Naruto had got into the hotel late and left early, leaving no time for the teammates to talk. The cherry blossom didn't mind, it just meant that he was as determined as ever to prove Tsunade wrong.

Due to her new interest in medical ninjutsu, Sakura was extensively training her chakra control. Using it to destroy the ground was slightly helping and walking on water and tall structures helped. But, to truly master medical ninjutsu, she just needed to do it.

So, she healed a fish.

It worked.

Then, she ate the fish (cooked, of course).

And now, she was once again training in chakra control. A lot of the residents were scared of her - a child referred to her as 'big forehead monster girl' - and Kokuo was planning on an intervention.

 **"Now tell me, Sakura-chan, why do you want to learn medical ninjutsu?"** The beast questioned.

"It's... interesting."

 **"So, you're not learning it because you want to be like Tsunade?"**

"Why would I want to be like her?!The pinkette asked, offended. "She is rude and loud and very opionated."

 **"You do realise you just described yourself, right?"**

"No, I'm nothing like her."

The Five-Tails snorted in response. Sakura chose to ignore her.

Metres away, hiding - but in plain sight - Kabuto pushed up his glasses. _Who is she talking to?_ The man thought to himself.

The day was going agonizingly slowly to Sakura. She was getting bored (she would've trained but she was low on chakra now) and she had no money to do anything. The money she earned from missions and the Yamanaka Flower Shop was stashed away in her room where no one could ever find it.

 _I really should keep a wallet on me or something... But if I do that, I'll end up wasting all the money!_ Sakura thought. Walking passed the many food stalls, Sakura's stomach began to grumble. Patting it slightly, she made her way back to the hotel - hoping she could find some food somewhere. _Maybe I can steal one of Naruto's insant ramen pots..._

A sudden commotion up ahead caught Sakura's attention.

"Hey, man. It's the middle of the day. Don't you have a job to do or something?" Someone said, poking a customer. And that customer was Jiraiya. He was sleeping at the counter but woke up upon being poked.

"Tsuna...?" He looked at his surroundings. "Dammit!" He cursed as Sakura ran up to him. At the same time, Shizune jumped down towards them with Naruto close behind her.

His clothers were rather dirty and tattered, and it was obvious he had just been training.

"Jiraiya-sama, Tsu-" Shizune began.

"I know!" He snapped. "We need to stop her."

"What's going on?" Sakura asked.

"Orochimaru made a deal with Tsunade a week ago." The medic ninja told her. "If she healed his arms, he would revive her loved ones."

 _His arms? What happened to his arms? Not important._

 **"Tsunade-sama is looking worse and worse each day."** Kokuo commented.

"I can find her but..." He turned towards the genin duo.

"We're coming!" They both yelled.

And so, the four ninja began to track down Tsunade to stop her from making a big mistake.

When they found the female sanin, she was shaking on the ground, blood splashed on her clothes. However, Sakura noticed how she had no visible cuts on her body. _She's shaking so... violently._

"My, my, my..." Orochimaru hissed. "The fox and the horse. I'll take the both of you once Tsunade so kindly heals my arms."

"Forget it!" Naruto shouted at the enemy. "We're not gonna let that happen!"

"Ugh, Naruto." Kabuto said. "You're so childish."

Jiraiya was able to lure Orochimaru away so the genin and Shizune could take care of Kabuto.

"He's mine." Naruto declared.

"It's better if we fight together." Sakura pointed out but Naruto seemed to ignore her.

"Is your dream still to become the Hokage?" The silver-haired man asked.

"I said it was in the Forest of Death and I never go back on my word. That's my ninja way!"

The two boys began to deliver a series of blows to each other, with Kabuto offering some snarky remark once in a while. Sakura stood on the sidelines ( _On respect of Naruto-kun's decision. Not because I'm scared)_ and Shizune was tending to Tsunade.

All of a sudden, Kabuto appeared behind Shizine and kicked her away from the sanin. Grabbing a kunai, he charged the blonde woman with intent to kill.

Only for his kunai to be caught by Naruto.

"Attacking a woman who's down? That's a cowardly move." The jinchuriki said. Lifting up his hand - and forming a clone nearby him to pour chakra into it - a spiral of chakra began to swirl in his palm.

 _No way, Naruto-kun._ Sakura thought. Tsunade was shocked beyond belief.

"Take this!" He slammed the Rasengan into Kabuto's chest and the spy flew back, hitting a boulder and destroying it.

"I can't believe it..." Sakura muttered.

"Believe it!" Naruto cheered, giving her a thumbs up but only to be interrupted by a cackling Kabuto.

"You did catch me by surprise there, Naruto-san." His wounds were gone. "But I already began healing myself before you striked me."

 _If he can do that, imagine what Tsunade-sama can do..._ The pinkette kept the thought to herself.

Next thing Sakura knew, Naruto dropped to the ground. Before she could run to her teammate, Kabuto stood infront of him. "Are you next, Sakura-chan?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You bet." She said, getting into her stance.

"But why protect this loser?" He asked, gesturing to Naruto. "And this basket-case who's a medical ninja and afraid of blood?" He gestured to Tsunade, who was still shaking on the ground. However, Shizune had got herself up and continued to try and clean the sanin up.

"What do you mean 'why'?" The cherry blossom asked. "It doesn't matter what type of person Naruto is." Tsunade listened to the genin's words. "He's my teammate, he's my friend and he understands who I am more than anyone. And, I'll do anything to protect him." Red chakra began to form around Sakura's body. Her eyes turned blue and her eyelids turned red. "I'm ready to put my life on the line for me, my family and friends, and Konoha. That's MY ninja way!"

 _This is the power of a..._ Tsunade didn't get to finish her thought. With lightning quick speed, Sakura charged at Kabuto, appearing to his right. Landing a kick to his ribs that sent him flying across the field, Sakura jumped up into the air above where he would land and zipped back down. "Shannaro!" Smashing her fist into the ground, the earth shook with a mighty force.

Jumping away from her enemy's remains and back to Tsunade and Shizune, Sakura buckled to the floor, one knee on the ground. She was tired. She over-worked her body training and it really didn't help the predicament she was in.

Kabuto began laughing again. "Medical ninjutsu is great, huh? No wonder you're so interested in it, Sakura-chan?"

 _How does he know about that?_ Sakura wondered.

Weakly, Sakura made her hands into weak, red chakra scalpels. Before she could charge, Tsunade stood infront of the Team Seven genin.

"Sakura, you've done enough." She said. "Go get your master." The sanin said to Kabuto. With glee, Kabuto went to interrupt the snake and toad's battle.

"Why did you do that?!" Sakura yelled at Tsunade once she made sure Shizune was tending to Naruto. The slug princess didn't answer and waited for the her old teammates to return.

Once they did, the three Legendary Sanin stood in a triangle. "I'm so glad you see to reason, Tsunade." The snake said, and put forward his arms as if she was going to heal them.

"I'm not going to heal you, Orochimaru. I'm going to kill you." Tsunade says. Biting her finger, she continued. "I'm going to put MY life on the line! Summoning Jutsu!"

All three sanin yelled the same jutsu but it all produced different results. Sakura already knew of Gamabunta. She knew Orochimaru had snakes but this was the first time she was seeing the purlple one. His name was Manda. The biggest surprise was Tsunade's summoning. It was a giant slug named Katsuyu. _It's... kinda cool._ Sakura remarked.

Jiraiya and Tsunade teamed up to fight Orochimaru with the woman taking the lead in the fight.

Sakura was in awe. _She's strong, she's brave (now) and she looks good doing it. How does that work?!_ In the battle, Tsunade proved that she was deemed strongest kunoichi in the world for a reason. _To be able to lift Gamabunta's sword with such ease... Whoo!_

In the end, Orochimaru and Kabuto got away. Sakura annoyed Shizune by asking many questions about medical ninjutsu while being healed.

Sakura went to sleep wondering if the day really happened. When she woke up, she realised it did upon looking at Naruto's grin. "I used the Rasengan!" He squealed with delight. "Now I don't have to give that grandma my money."

"Kids!" Jiraiya yelled as he walked into the room. "We have to go!"

Sakura was glad they were leaving. She missed Konoha. Plus, she had to hassle her sensei and force him to teach her lightning release.

They packed up their stuff and left to go home.

Near the outskirts, Sakura saw that there were two people waiting for them. They were Tsunade and Shizune.

"You guys take forever." The female sanin complained. "Hurry up, we have to go."

"I have already sent a message." Shizune said to Jiraiya. He nodded in response.

"Where are you going, Oba-chan?" Naruto asked her. Tsuande's eyes narrowed at the name.

"The leaf needs a Hokage and this old man," she slapped Jiraiya. "Is too lazy to take up the job."

"So..." Sakura began. "You're going to be Hokage?" She asked.

"Yes." The slug princess answered.

"What?!" The dobe yelled. "No! You can't be Hokage!"

"What did you say?!" The Godaime glared at him. This small arguement then led to a rematch between Naruto and Tsunade. The battle followed the same formula as the last, however Naruto's Rasengan wasn't flimsy anymore. Tsunade still was able to avoid it though.

They were in the same position as before - Tsunade in the position to flick him. Instead, she took off his forehead protector and kissed him.

"You're going to be a fine young man someday." She said, handing him his forehead protector back.

"You bet!" Naruto shouted, blushing slightly.

The Godaime then turned to Sakura. "I didn't forget about you." She said as she walked over to the Five-Tails' host. "It irks me that this pervert is the one who's training you." She tilted her head in the Toad Sages direction. Jiraiya pouted.

"He's not training me..." Sakura responded.

"Even so, you have big potential, Sakura. How would you like to be my apprentice?"

"Apprentice?!" Sakura found herself exclaiming. "You want to train me?" _The Hokage wanted to train her?! The strongest Kunoichi in the world wanted to train her?!_

"Yes." Tsunade nodded. "We'll make you even stronger than Naruto." They ignored the affronted look on the Dobe's face.

"...Um... Yes. Yes, I want you train me." A big grin found its way to the pinkette's face.

 _Sasuke-kun... Naruto-kun... You better watch out. I'm not letting either of you become the strongest ninja in Team Seven that easily._


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N Do you guys know the game Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3? Well, there's this Ultimate contest in the game that I'm using as an arc (Mainly because it's a fun part of the game to play). So, this isn't a canon arc but it isn't a self-induced arc either.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.** **And I don't own Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3.**

 **Chapter 28**

They had been back in Konoha for weeks. Tsuande was officially the Fifth Hokage now, Sasuke had been healed by her and everything was normal in the Leaf Village once again. Sakura continued doing what she usually did: Train, do missions, annoy Kakashi to get him to teach her lightning release. But, on top of all of this, Sakura also trained with Tsunade.

Her first session with the woman was not what Sakura had in mind. Tsuande was really nice and caring for Sakura's well-being. The pinkette was given breaks and the Godaime even brought lunch for her. However, in their second training session, Sakura was not allowed any breaks, Tsunade was extremely tough on her and she wasn't allowed lunch because she failed a training exercise.

After this, when she went to her shift at the Yamanaka Flower Shop, Ino screamed at the sight of her.

 _Real confidence booster._ Sakura thought.

Currently, Team Seven were on Training Ground 15, and they were fighting a Kakashi shadow clone to improve on teamwork.

 _Naruto-kun, send a clone to Sasuke-kun and tell him to go for triangle formation._

 _Okay, Sakura-chan!_

The two jinchuriki were accustomed to using telepathy to relay their strategies. Sasuke didn't know how they came about telepathy because his teammates hadn't told him of their jinchuriki status.

Naruto formed a bunch of clones and they charged at the clone of their sensei. While the clones were fighting, the Team Seven trio surrounded him in the form of a triangle. They each used a jutsu.

Sasuke used Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu.

Naruto used Wind Style: Deep Breath Jutsu.

Sakura used Water Style: Water Dolphin Bullet.

The three attacks collided with their sensei's clone, making him disappear and destroying the ground around him. Kakashi then began to clap.

"Better." He said. "We're done for the day. But, remember. We're meeting at the bridge tomorrow. I have an announcement."

 _I wonder what it is._ Sakura thought. "See you guys." The cherry blossom waved at her teammates.

Sasuke gave a nod while Naruto shouted "Have fun training with Oba-chan!"

* * *

"Sakura, again." Tsunade said, talking to a collapsed Sakura on the floor. The sanin was giving the genin the task of pushing the Godaime off of her feet. So far, her efforts had been futile. "Is that all your determination is worth?"

Quickly stepping up, the pinkette transferred chakra to her fist and tried to punch Tsunade in the gut. Her punch was blocked and she swiftly turned her body to land a kick. It was also blocked. Sakura kept on punching, again and again, hoping to make her master move at least an inch.

In the end, she failed. But she was going to succeed the next time, she swore it. The rest of her training for the day consisted of medical ninjutsu.

* * *

The next day, Sakura made her way to the bridge in the morning. When she got there, she saw Naruto and Sasuke sparring. Not angrily fighting with each other, they were just sparring. (But, Sasuke did have some sort of annoyed look on his face).

Sakura sat on the bridge and watched until their sensei came.

When Kakashi arrived, he got the attention of his students (after Sakura and Naruto shouted "You're late!"). "Konoha wants to create an alliance with Suna." Kakashi said. This was old news but it still made Sakura seem iffy because of what happened during the Chunin Exams. "The elders of the village said that they would like some sort of event for the Leaf to host. Tsunade-sama has made one."

From his pocket, Kakashi tossed at his students a blue crystal each. And held up his crystal which was red. "A blue crystal is worth 1 point and is given to genin. A red crystal is worth 5 points and is given to chunin and jonin. You fight for crystals and whoever gets a certain amount of points wins."

 _So, chunin and jonin are already ahead of us. Great._ The pinkette rolled her eyes.

"Tsunade-sama is going to tell us the amount of points we need tomorrow morning. And she will also tell us what the winner receives. Missions and training will be off while the contest is going on."

"This is awesome." Naruto yelled. "Teme, Sakura-chan. You two may as well give me your crystals already because I'm going to win this thing!"

"Shut up, Dobe." Sasuke said.

"Sasuke-kun, how about we target Naruto first?" Sakura joked as Naruto gulped.

"Naruto, don't get too cocky." Kakashi warned.

"What do you mean? Are you scared of me and my awesomeness?"

"Naruto, compared to me, you're a puppy." The jonin said.

"What?!" The orange idiot was offended and before he could string out a cluster of curses, his sensei disappeared. "Just you wait!" He yelled at nothing.

* * *

"What are you two whispering about?" Sakura was working on the till at the Yamanaka Flower Shop. Naruto had arrived earlier and him and Ino were giggling in the corner like a bunch of eight year old girls in school.

"Ino-chan's teaching me how to flower arrange." Naruto said, holding out his collection of flowers. Sakura raised her eyebrow at him and his face turned bright red. So, as the good friend she was, the Team Seven Kunoichi decided to tease him.

"Aww..." She began. "Naru-chan is playing with flowers."

"Not playing!" Naruto exclaimed. "Naru-chan is- Naruto is- I am flower ARRANGING!" Sakura and Ino only laughed in response.

"How's training with Tsunade-sama?" Ino asked her friend, an unknown undertone in her words. Sakura didn't notice it.

"Really good." The pinkette answered. "I can now heal an injured squid." She seemed awfully proud of herself.

A bell was heard at the door so Sakura went back to the till. When she noticed it was Sasuke, she brought up the usual flowers he bought.

"Teme!" Naruto yelled. "Do you think flower arranging is girly?"

"Yes." The Uchiha answered. Sakura giggled while Naruto began to complain.

The cherry blossom began to remember her academy days. She didn't think she was very good at flower arranging - she got a lot of help from Ino. All girls were forced to do it as it was a part of Kunoichi classes. The thought made Sakura mad.

"Where's Princess?" Ino asked to no one in particular. Princess, AKA Hinata. It was a nickname they now called her because of the way she was treated by members of her clan.

"Clan meeting." Sakura answered as she put Sasuke's flowers into a bag and accepted his money. "See you tomorrow." She said.

"Hn." He responded and left.

"Don't you think it's unfair? The point system?" Ino asked. "I mean, Chouji-kun and I have one point while Shikamaru-kun has five points!"

Shikamaru was promoted to Chunin due to his efforts against Temari. He was the only person to be promoted in Konoha. Sadly, that meant that no one in Team Seven was promoted. The day they were told, Natuto went livid. But, Sakura contained him by telling him that they could all try again as a team. Now, instead of annoying Kakashi about who became chunin, he was annoying Kakashi about when the next exams were.

"Yeah." Sakura answered Ino's question. "We're already at a disadvantage, this just makes it worse."

"That prize better be good." Naruto said.

* * *

"Hello, Konoha and Suna residents." Tsuande began as she stood on top of the Hokage Tower. The crowd was massive; it was full of Sand Shinobi and Leaf Shinobi. Sakura stood alongside the rest of Team Seven, waiting for Tsunade to continue talking.

The Hokage explained the rules of the tournament - obviously Team Seven already knew them - and used the monitor to show how many points someone needed to move onto the next round. The computer went through many numbers but eventually landed on 60.

"To move onto the next round, you will need 60 points!" Tsunade shouted. Some people cheered, others looked forlorn - unconfident in their abilities. "Now to the reward..." The blonde woman said into the microphone. "The winner of this contest... will be allowed to make one regulation for the Leaf Village."

Everyone began to cheer. "Sakura-chan, what's a regulation?" Naruto asked.

"It's like a rule. For example, if you would like the cost of ramen to go down, every shop that sells ramen in Konoha will be forced to reduce their prices." Sakura explained.

"Really?" The boy asked. The pinkette nodded.

 **"Sakura-chan, what will your regulation be?"** Kokuo asked.

 _I don't know._ Sakura thought. _Actually..._ The jinchuriki remembered the flower arranging Naruto was doing today. _I used to hate it. And not just flower arranging, I hated Kunoichi classes. It's sexist. My regulation will be to let people choose what classes they would like to take in the academy, regardless of their gender._

 **"Then you better win!"**

"Quiet down!" Shizune yelled at the crowd.

"Even if you are from Sunagakure, you can still make a regulation but, it must be appropriate." Tsunade said. "Now, get ready because the contest will start in one hour and it will finish 24 hours after."

* * *

Sakura was stunned to find out that her parents were going to take part. To be honest, she didn't expect them to.

"But you're old..." She said when they told her.

The pinkette got lectured about being rude after that.

* * *

Sakura was at the Training Field when she heard a loud horn. That signified that the contest had begun. Immediately, someone jumped down beside her.

"Me and you, Sakura!" It was Tenten. She had a sword by her side.

"Um... Really?" The cherry blossom found herself asking.

"I need some crystals before I go and beat up that stupid Sand girl." _Temari?_

"Okay, I won't go easy on you." Sakura said, getting into a stance.

Throughout the fight, Sakura found it hard to dodge Tenten's weapons. So, she thought that if she kept the combat close-up then her opponent would have some trouble.

Forming some clones to charge at her enemy, Tenten's shuriken began to hit them, making a lovely display of cherry blossoms drift in the wind of the field.

Infusing chakra into her fingers, she sliced down onto the ground, making it crumble at the Team Three Kunoichi's feet.

The ninja tool master buckled and Sakura's clones jumped on her, and they fell to the ground. One clone jumped up. "Got it!" It yelled, holding up Tenten's blue crystal. The clone threw it to the original Sakura and the pinkette sped off, leaving Tenten to fight off the clones.

* * *

The jinchuriki laughed as she imagined how angry Tenten was. _That's two points... 58 to go!_ Sakura found herself near the Memorial Stone when she felt a chakra signature nearby. "Sasuke-kun?" She called as the signature felt familiar. The Uchiha walked out of the woods, suddenly getting into a stance. _He wants to fight me?_

"Be careful, Sakura-chan." Kakashi said from behind her.

"Ahhh!" She squealed and ran next to her teammate.

Just as she did, Naruto came out of nowhere. "Kakashi-sensei, me and you! Right now!"

"Try again, Dobe." It was just then when Naruto noticed that it wasn't just him and his teacher.

"Teme! Are you trying to steal my fight?!"

"I was here first, you idiot!"

"You're a bit late to the party, Naruto." Kakashi said, knowing it would rile him up a bit. "Sasuke and Sakura were one step ahead of you." _Well, I was here by accident..._ The pinkette chose to stay quiet.

"Teme, you snake!" Naruto yelled.

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sasuke yelled.

"Knock it off, boys!" Sakura yelled.

"The three of you act like little pups." Kakashi found himself saying, which was a mistake. All three genin stopped and turned towards their sensei.

"How about a truce?" The Nine-Tails' host asked.

"Yeah. For now." The Uchiha replied.

"Kakashi-sensei, maybe it was a mistake doing teamwork training with us." The cherry blossom said.

"Now it's time to kick a little Kakashi butt!" The three genin exclaimed, surrounding their sensei in a triangle formation.


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.** **And I don't own Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3.**

 **Chapter 29**

 _Maybe this was a stupid idea..._ Sakura thought. She was currently tied to a tree. A bit weird, don't you think?

After that badass moment where the Team Seven genin decided to work together, Kakashi kicked their asses. It didn't even take long. However, apparently, Sakura's punches on the ground really annoyed him so he tied her to a tree as punishment. Also, he stole Naruto's crystals. The pinkette still had hers.

"I'll chase you down to the ends of the earth." Naruto yelled. Sasuke ran over to Sakura, cutting the ropes that bound her to the tree.

"Thanks." The cherry blossom said. The Uchiha nodded in response but he quickly took off. Sakura assumed that he was chasing down their sensei.

"Gotta get more crystals!" Naruto zoomed off. He quickly came back. "Bye, Sakura-chan." He zoomed off again.

* * *

After losing terribly against her teacher, Sakura decided to go towards the Leaf Village Centre. Civillians were advised to stay indoors due to the nature of the contest. Many ninja were battling on the streets and the Kunoichi was weary of anyone trying to steal her crystals. Luckily, some people were careless and Sakura found a few crystals on the ground - including a red one.

Walking near the river in Konoha, Sakura noticed Shikamaru and Kankuro. It seemed like they were about to fight (judging by the puppet master's stance) but the Nara boy seemed unbothered.

"I just wanna see how good the Leaf's new chunin is." The Sand ninja said.

"How troublesome..." Shikamaru replied.

"I'll fight, if you don't want to." Sakura found herself saying. Both boys turned to her and Kankuro - for some reason - found this funny.

"You?" He laughed. "Sweet cheeks?"

 **"Kill him now!"** Kokuo exclaimed.

"Wasn't I the one who beat your sister in the chunin exams?" Sakura wondered out loud. "And you were the pussy who gave up. Heh."

The Sand genin narrowed his eyes. "If you really want to lose so bad then, I guess that could be arranged. But, I'm not the one who wants to fight you." In a poof, Kankuro disappeared.

 _What's that supposed to mean?_

"Hey." Shikamaru caught the cherry blossom's attention. "Here." He said, handing her his red crystal and one blue crystal.

"Really?" Sakura asked, looking at him, dumbfounded.

"Yeah. I can't be bothered with this thing." He yawned, acting as if he was disinterested with explaining this as well as the contest itself.

"Thanks!" She exclaimed.

"Now I have to go hide from my mum..." Shikamaru mumbled, sauntering off and wondering where he could nap in peace.

* * *

Sakura spent the rest of the day fighting many genin. She hadn't lost a battle yet - excluding the one against Kakashi - and things were looking good. Currently, she had 43 points. Only 17 more and then she could qualify for the next round.

At times, she would see Ino and Hinata collecting crystals. The girls would share a look of some sort and part ways, knowing it wasn't their time to fight. She also saw Naruto a few times but he was so stressed about collecting crystals that he never noticed her.

Tenten had also found her - demanding to fight for her crystal back. The ninja tool girl lost again. However, the cherry blossom did have a chance to ask about her regulation. "I want the Hokage to teach all Kunoichi in Konoha about strength and medical ninjutsu." The girl with two buns on her head said.

 _She already does that with me..._ Sakura held back the comment. And, to be honest, she didn't like that regulation. (It made her feel less special). After losing for a second time, Tenten sped off, trying to find more crystals. As soon as the girl left, the pinkette had noticed a brown bird circling her. It looked like a Suna messenger bird. Signalling it to come down, she took a scroll out of the pouch and it quickly flew away.

Meet at Training Ground Eight Now

It wasn't signed and Sakura was confused as to who sent it. She didn't recognise the hand-writing. But, it was a Sand Messenger bird so a Sand ninja had challenged her? Was it Kankuro, wanting revenge for her earlier comment? Did Temari want a rematch? Did Gaara want to spar? Was it somebody she didn't know/didn't remember?

 **"All of these questions will be answered if you just go to the damn Training Field!"** Kokuo yelled at Sakura.

 _Right. I knew that._

* * *

Standing in the middle of the field, Temari stood. Her fan was on her back but she moved it to her side once Sakura made it. "You sent the message?" The pinkette asked.

"I wanted a rematch." The Suna girl replied. "It was embarrassing losing to a girl who didn't even make it to chunin."

"Are you a chunin?" Sakura asked to which Temari nodded.

"I won't lie, I had an advantage. I was the only person who battled twice." The girl said. "Now, what's your regulation?" She asked.

"My regulation is to let academy students be allowed to choose which lessons they would like to take, regardless of their gender. A girl shall not be forced to take Kunoichi classes and a boy shall not be forced to take..." Sakura paused for a second. "Whatever the hell they did when girls were in Kunoichi class." _What did they actually do?_

"Hmm..." Was Temari's only response to that.

"What's yours?"

"I want mixed Konoha and Suna training sessions. If this alliance is going to happen then I want to know the abilities of those on our side." The Wind user proposed.

 _I'm not against that._ Sakura thought.

 **"Gaara is nearby. I can feel Shukaku."** Kokuo said, sensing her brother.

"Are Gaara and Kankuro here?" The pinkette asked.

"Nice sensory skills." Temari remarked. Kokuo said thanks to no one. "Yeah, they're sitting up on a tree. I hope you don't mind."

"Smaller audience than the chunin exams." Sakura smirked.

"Enough talk." The Suna girl opened up her fan. "This time, I'm going to win!" She swung her fan - moon three - and a huge gust of wind charged at Sakura. The cherry blossom countered with a mud wall. The wind attack destroyed the mud wall but phased out right after.

Forming many clones, the Sakuras began to circle their enemy - hoping to be confusing. Instead, Temari jumped into the air and forced her fan downwards, destroying them all. However, the real Sakura was above her oppponent and kicked down at her back. "Heaven Kick of Pain!" The Suna girl slammed down to the ground. Only, it was a much weaker version of Tsunade's move.

When the dust cleared up, the pinkette saw the remains of a wooden log. _A substitution?_

"Wind Style: Great Cast Net!" A huge slice of wind came out of the woods. It sliced through Sakura's body and she dissolved into cherry blossom petals. _I can do the substitution game too._ She thought from a different area in the woods.

Forming the necessary hand signs, the cherry blossom used her Wind Style: Deep Breath Jutsu towards the area where Temari's attack came from. There was no sound of pain, no sound that can be inferred of it hitting. So, Sakura hid underground and made her way around the area Temari was in.

Peaking her head from up the ground, the Leaf genin saw that her enemy was setting up a trap. It took a while for her to understand but it was a simple trap. All the Suna ninja had to do was a cut a rope and kunai with an exploding seal would attack a certain area.

 _In our last match,I used her own weapon against her. Maybe I should use her own trap against her..._

And that's what she did. When Temari jumped - and when she was directly in that spot - Sakura sprang up and cut the rope, setting off the trap.

The new chunin tried to jump away from the barrage of kunai with exploding seals. Although she succeeded, a Sakura clone was already in the air and was ready to attack Temari. It used Earth Style: Weighted Boulders Jutsu. One after the other, boulders were hurled at Temari and she dodged them all. But, she was so focused on the clone, she forgot about the real Sakura.

"Shannaro!" The genin slammed her fist onto the ground next to her opponent. She stumbled and Sakura landed a kick to her stomach. This made her enemy fall to the floor.

Quickly making a few more clones, the Team Seven Kunoichi had them hold her down onto the ground. "I win." Sakura said, smirking.

"Fuck!" Temari growled, struggling to get up. Gaara and Kankuro made their way onto the field as Sakura dispelled her clone jutsu. From out of her pouch, the Suna Kunoichi gave her crystals to the winner. There was more than enough for the pinkette, she had around 90 points now.

"Thanks." Sakura said, placing the crystals in her pouch.

"You better win." Temari said. "Bad enough that I lost for a second time."

"I'll be sure to." She turned towards Gaara. She didn't know what to say to him, after what happened during the Chunin Exams.

"I battled with Naruto." The One-Tail's host said.

"Oh, really?" Sakura asked and she wondered about the outcome of the battle.

"It was in the early stages of the contest. He beat me but I still have enough to make it to the next round." _Hmm... People are saying that Naruto-kun is doing really well._ The cherry blossom thought.

"Well, I hope to battle with you later." Sakura replied and turned to Kankuro. His cheeks went pink and the Five-Tails' host wondered if the puppet master had a crush on her. _No, get over yourself. He doesn't._ She thought, remembering what happened at the river earlier on in the day.

* * *

After speaking with the Sand Siblings a bit longer, Sakura decided to retire for the day. Upon coming home, she learnt that her parents had already collected 60 points earlier on in the day.

She called them old again.

Mebuki made her least favourite dish for dinner as punishment.

Hiding her crystals, the pinkette went to sleep, dreaming of how proud people would be when they see her win. Along with the dreams came the nightmares.

* * *

When the horn blasted, the first round came to an end. Those who had 60 points or more made their way to the Hokage Tower. There were stands where each person had to register. When Sakura registered, she was given a blue crystal again and was instructed to hand over all of the crystals she obtained in the first round.

"Settle down!" Shizune yelled at the crowd.

"This next round is similar to the first." Tsunade began. "All of you received a blue crystal. Each is still worth 1 point. But, this next round has no set amount you need to obtain. Your goal is to collect as many crystals as you can. When the round is over, the two people with the most points will be chosen to fight in the Chunin Exam Stadium to determine the winner!"

People began cheering. Sakura was just glad that the point system was now fair.

"Alright!" Sakura heard Naruto yell. "I'm going to win this thing!" She smiled. She was glad that he made it and his enthusiasm was contagious.

Looking around, the pinkette wanted to see if there were any others she would recognise. That's when she saw Hinata and Ino - they had also made it. Sasuke was brooding in a corner, and Kakashi was leaning up against a wall, hands in his pockets.

 _A lot of people made it, I guess._ She thought. _I'm going to beat down all of them._ Her eyes drifted to her best girl friends. She then looked to the members of Team Seven. _No doubt that we'll clash in this round, I have to be ready._


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. And I don't own Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3.**

 **Edit: Thank you to the guest reviewer who alerted me about a mistake I made in this chapter. Fire beats wind and wind beats lightning.**

 **Chapter 30**

"You didn't have to get that serious." A genin boy from the Sand cried. "Big forehead weirdo..." He mumbled under his breath but Sakura heard.

She punched him. "Clean out your mouth before I clock you again!" She growled at him.

"What are you doing to my brother?" A girl asked - Sakura assumed she was chunin ranked.

"What does it look like? I'm taking his crystals." The pinkette gave the woman a 'duh!' look. "People these days..." Sakura mumbled as she walked through the streets of Konoha, away from the brother/sister Suna duo. "I was just taking his crystals because I won..."

The cherry blossom had already collected a multitude of crystals. She had battled Kiba (she felt bad about winning because his regulation about dog health care did seem important) and she fought Chouji. The latter's battle was easily won as Sakura kept herself far away and used long-ranged attacks. The Akamichi heir was distracted with the thought of winning and his sensei buying him all he can eat barbe-que. Sakura had also run into Tenten for the third time. The weapon girl claimed revenge for beating Temari."That was my battle!" The Team Three Kunoichi shouted. She lost again.

In the Hidden Leaf Forest, the kunoichi attempted to battle Kurenai. The genjutsu master was confused as to why a genin was picking a fight with her. Sakura only responded that rank didn't matter. After that, Kurenai challenged the pinkette with the task of climbing a tree within a time limit and then the jonin would fight her. She easily won the tree climbing challenge. "Now I feel like cheering you on." Kurenai said, handing her crystals - which were a lot - to Sakura. "No need for the battle."

 _Maybe I should go around the Training Grounds..._ Sakura thought. _The day is almost up._ She looked up as the sun began to set.

 _No way..._

Standing face-to-face with each other, Naruto and Sasuke were about to battle. When Sakura made it to the field, both boys visibly perked up.

"Sakura-chan, watch me beat Teme up!" Naruto shouted, waving at the cherry blossom.

"Shut up, Dobe. She's going to watch me mop the floor with you." Sasuke said, getting into a stance.

"You're going to stay and watch, right?" Naruto asked his favourite teammate and both boys stared at her.

 _They look like puppies, how can I say no?_ Sakura questioned Kokuo.

 **"They're no dolphins but..."** The beast replied.

"Of course." She smiled and sat down on the ground.

"Sasuke-kun!" A chorus sang and a bunch of girls from a variety of ages made it to the battlefield. It was his fan club.

"Where's the love...?" Naruto mumbled.

"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun. Do your best!" Their teammate decided to yell from the sidelines. Both boys smiled at her before glaring at each other and starting the fight. Sasuke's fan club shot daggers at Sakura. First, she got to be in the team with the Uchiha and now he smiled at her. Knowing her affect on the fan club, Sakura blew a kiss their way, smirking after. They all turned red and the pinkette laughed out loud.

She directed her attention to the fight. It started off simply with mainly taijutsu attacks with a few shuriken and kunai thrown around. It then escalated when Sasuke decided to use Fire Style attacks. However, Naruto countered with Wind Style attacks.

It was the middle of the match when Sakura realised that each boy had some sort of a strategy. Sasuke was trying to fight with taijutsu to preserve his chakra and he knew that his skill in that area was more advanced than Naruto's. On the other hand, Naruto was trying to force Sasuke to use ninjutsu, knowing that his own supply of chakra was bigger than the Uchiha's. It led to a balance in the fight. _They're even._ Sakura thought. _True rivals._

In fact, their fight had drawn a small crowd to watch them fight. Feeling someone ruffle her hair, Sakura saw Kakashi smile down at her before looking back to the fight. Unconsciously, Sakura gripped her pouch containing her crystals, silently fearing that someone would steal them.

One of the biggest surprises in the fight - for Sakura - was when her Dobe of a teammate transferred chakra to his kunai and began fighting the Teme. The chakra was sharp, although it did falter at times. Sasuke was still wary of it, now opting to stay back at times. Then, another surprise, Sasuke started to use a new lightning attack.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Bird Chaos!" It was an attack he used from far away. Streaks of lightning came out of his hands and formed the shape of birds. They flew towards Naruto, who tried to dodge them but, in the end, one hit him and sent him to the ground. He got up quickly and the two began fighting again.

 _Sasuke-kun's fire beats Naruto-kun's wind... But Naruto-kun's wind beats Sasuke-kun's fire..._ Sakura thought and she continued watching.

All of a sudden, Naruto's body began to glow red and he dashed at Sasuke, getting in hits whenever he could. Sasuke held his own but eventually chakra exhaustion caught up with him while Naruto was still going. The Uchiha's movements became slower and his attacks were almost non-existent now.

At the end of the match, Naruto was victorious.

The field was silent. Until...

"Woohoo! Naruto-kun, you did it!" Sakura screamed as she ran up to her teammates. Others began to clap, congratulating the blonde for his win.

Sasuke tossed his pouch to Naruto, not saying a word. He tensed when he felt someone's hands on him, on his back - where the final blow was struck. It was Sakura. "What are you doing?" He asked, annoyed.

"Healing you." She replied, her hands glowing green. Naruto watched in awe.

"I've never seen you heal. That's so cool!" The winner exclaimed.

The Uchiha had half the mind to slap her hand away, to tell them that he didn't need help. But, if he was honest, it did feel kinda... sorta... good. So, he ignored the weird looks he was receiving from some people (from his fan club and some other ninja) and let his teammate heal him.

A few minutes later, Sakura stopped healing Sasuke and moved onto Naruto. The loser of the match still stayed, watching how his favourite teammate- uh... female teammate was healing the Dobe.

"I feel as good as new!" Naruto yelled when the pinkette stopped healing him. "I'm glad that Oba-chan is teaching you."

As soon as the blonde finished speaking, two kunai were thrown at Sakura. Using her own, she quickly delfected them. Looking at who threw them, Sakura saw that two ninja each hurled one at her.

"The Princess and the Pig..." Sakura commented, looking at Ino and Hinata.

"We're here to fight, Forehead." Ino said.

"The three of us." Hinata added, no stutter in her words and her Byakugan was activated.

Sakura turned towards her teammates and she smiled at them. "I watched your battles, now I hope you'll watch mine." She walked away from them and joined Ino and Hinata.

The girls all stood in a triangle, and they got into their stances. The crowd from Naruto and Sasuke's battle were still around. Kakashi was leaning on a tree, his perverted book in hand but he didn't seem to be reading it. Sakura's teammates walked over to him. Sasuke stood - hands in his pockets - and Naruto sat on the ground, similar to what his fellow jinchuriki had done.

The girls, still in a triangle, were wary of anyone making the first move. "What's your regulations?" Sakura asked. "Mine is to let academy students choose what classes they want to take, regardless of their gender."

Ino smirked at her. "Nice one. Mine is to lessen the influence of expectations of kunoichi. We aren't just women who fight to become jonin and then are just expected to become housewives."

It was Hinata's turn next. "Mine is to strengthen the training regimen for women. Just because we're girls, doesn't mean we should be forgotten when it comes to training."

Sakura felt the need to laugh. All three of their regulations were about being women. They were similar yet different. She saw that her friends shared her same look. "But, only one of us gets to enforce ours." Sakura said.

"And trust me, it'll be mine!" They all yelled before charging into the middle of their triangle. Immediately, the pinkette was struck in the chest by Hinata. But before the Hyuga could get a combo going, Ino launched an attack at her. She threw flower petals, which secretly concealed a paper bomb, and all three kunoichi jumped backwards - avoiding the explosion.

 _1 vs 1 vs 1..._ _This is going to be different..._ _In fact, this is a battle between rivals._ Before, Sakura thought of Ino as her rival - as rivals in love. But now that they were no longer 'in love' with Sasuke, they were rivals in power. However, Hinata had also joined in on it and the three of them were determined not to fall behind. The pinkette was not the only one who had been training vigorously.

Ino and Sakura locked eyes and threw shuriken at each other before engaging in hand-to-hand combat. The cherry blossom tried to swipe at her legs but the blonde jumped up, twirling over her opponent.

All of a sudden, Hinata cried "Eight Triagrams: 64 Palms Guard!" Once again, a blue sphere appeared in between Ino and Sakura and both girls were blown back. Only, they both stood their ground. Immediately, all three girls met in the middle for a taijutsu battle.

Hinata was easily the best, swaying around and easily dodging her enemies' fists and making her own strikes in the right areas. But Sakura was good at evasion, making her a hard target to hit. The Hyuga tried jabbing the pinkette in her arm's chakra points but she moved out of the way everytime.

Sakura was finding it hard to keep up. Her blonde rival's movements were similar to the blue-haired girl's movements, making her wonder if they trained together. Ino used the Haruno's weakness and attacked her arm. "Argh!" The Team Seven ninja cried, clutching her arm. She felt like she couldn't move it. _What did she just do...?_ Hinata striked at Sakura too with her Eight Triagrams: 32 Palms, blowing her backwards. As soon as Sakura was blown back, Ino and Hinata began to duel.

"Earth Style: Weighted Boulder Jutsu!" The cherry blossom hurled boulders - glad that whatever happened to her arm was just temporary - at the other girls, making it hard for them to fight each other. Creating a clone as she did so, thanking God for letting her do it right, the clone started using Water Style: Water Dolphin Bullet Barrage. A boulder and a dolphin merged together and hit both girls, making them stumble away from each other.

Hinata moved swiftly next to the pinkette after she recovered, ready to strike her in the chest. Sakura began to move but felt she couldn't. Ino had hindered her movement with her clan's jutsu. Luckily, her clone made a mud wall as soon as Hinata tried to hit, blocking the girls attack. The clone dispersed moments after and Ino's jutsu wore off.

The blonde went after the Hyuga again and Sakura felt like this was her moment to do a lot of damage. Controlling her chakra, Sakura sent a big amount into her feet and jumped up. She was high, as high as the tallest tree in Konoha and she looked down at the ground as she fell with a chakra infused fist. "Shannaro!" She screamed, landing in between her enemies.

The audience members' eyeballs bulged out of their eye sockets, obviously after shielding them from the dust, upon seeing what the Fifth Hokage's apprentice could do. Naruto vowed to never piss off Sakura again. Sasuke scoffed and said "Like that would ever happen." to the Dobe. Kakashi silently hoped Sakura would never do this to him in a training exercise as he pitied what his clone would have to go through in their next teamwork activity.

"Too much dust." Ino complained, coughing, once it cleared up.

 _I think I bruised my hand..._ Sakura thought as she looked at. _It's so red... I might need some gloves._

"Wind Style: Deep Breath Jutsu!" Ino used this against Hinata who was actually trying to sneak up on Sakura with a blue glow on her hands.

"Hey! That's what I helped to teach her, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly and the pinkette looked at him in anger. For what reason, she didn't know.

Hinata dodged the attack and Sakura side-stepped to avoid her. Ino joined in but she had formed chakra scalpels. The cherry blossom fought with chakra infused into her fists for destruction. She wanted to laugh at how differently they fought with their hands. Ino sliced with her scalpels, Hinata was swift and focused on hitting the right points on a person's body and Sakura was punching to destroy everything. Slamming her fists into the ground, she was able to make the other girls move away.

Standing back in a triangle, the girls all stared at each other, daring the others to move.

"Gobi..." Sakura heard a familiar voice breathe out behind her. Her setting changed to the Hidden Ash Forest. Turning around, she saw him.

"Akihiko!" She gasped, stepping back.

"Hanabi!" Someone screamed, faraway but the pinkette wasn't focused on that.

His body was burnt but rotted too. A stench so bad filled her nose and she felt a sudden pain in her stomach. Wait, why did she feel like she had just been punched?

"Release!" She brought her hands up into the sign to break the genjutsu. It worked and Sakura was crouching on the floor, hand on her stomach where Ino had punched her. _She used something she knew affected me... to get to me._ Sakura thought, staring as Ino punched Hinata - who was still caught in the genjutsu - in the face. _I'm not mad, just... wow._

They stood in a triangle again and each was wary of more genjutsu attacks. The invasive jutsu only made Sakura more determined to win. With one more punch. Looking at the expressions of her friends, the cherry blossom saw that they felt the same. _The last move... Make it count._

Sakura's body began to boil and she saw a steam cloud around her hand as well as blue chakra she had infused in it. Hinata's hand started to glow white while Ino's hand began to shine purple. The Team Seven kunoichi didn't know what these attacks were but she made a mental note to ask later.

"This is going to end it." Sakura said as the other girls nodded. They charged into the midpoint of the triangle and their attacks collided. A dark grey cloud of smoke appeared, drifting vertically in the air. The ground rumbled because of the attack and the sheer force of it frightened every living thing in a large radius. Including Sasuke, though he would never admit it.

"Is this meant to be a fight between **genin**?!" Someone asked rhetorically.

Once the smoke cleared, the three kunoichi were all standing. However, they were unresponsive and they still stood in a triangle just on different sides, turned away from each other. Who was going to fall first? Who was going to be the last woman standing? Who was going to tell Kakashi that everyone knew that he wasn't actually reading his book?

Everyone stared in silence as one girl fell.


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. And I don't own Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3.**

 **Chapter 31**

Sakura was the one who fell, one knee on the ground and she coughed weakly. Her body was aching and she felt like she was at her limit. Turning around, she saw Ino and Hinata looking away from her as they still stood. Only until they both dropped onto the ground, seemingly unconscious.

And that's how Sakura won.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, running over to his teammate along with Sasuke.

"Check on them." The pinkette said and the Dobe nodded. He ran to Hinata because Asuma was already with Ino as he had been spectating the battle. Neji had also been watching and now he ran over to his cousin, trying to see if she was alright.

"Can you heal yourself?" Sasuke asked his teammate, who nodded. Her left hand glowed green and she put it on her right hand - the one that she bruised (it was now bruised on a higher scale due to her last punch). For a few seconds, she healed her hand. But, chakra exhaustion caught up and she fainted, her head resting on the Uchiha's chest as said Uchiha tried not to turn red.

His fan club shrieked as he held her bridal style, ready to take her home.

* * *

Sakura blinked awake in her bed. She could hear something... Maybe it was two people whispering. But their whispers were loud and aggressive. Moving her head to face her dresser, she saw Naruto and Sasuke having an arguement.

"What... are you two doing?" The pinkette asked and the boys' heads whipped towards her as if they had been caught with their hands in a cookie jar.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed after an awkward beat. "You were awesome, believe it!"

"Not so loud, Dobe." Sasuke said through clenched teeth and a hand on his ear. Sakura sat up in her bed. He then turned towards his bed-ridden teammate. "We deposited your crystals. They're calculating them now."

"Thanks." She replied.

"We didn't steal any!" Naruto quickly said. "We didn't even look at them, we just put yours, Ino-chan's and Hinata-chan's crystals in. We didn't count them!"

"I believe you." The pinkette tried to get him to stop babbling. Looking over to where her teammates were standing before, Sakura realised it was her underwear drawer, and it was slightly open. "What were you two arguing about?" She asked.

They turned red, Naruto moreso than Sasuke. Sakura turned towards her fellow jinchuriki, her eyes white and wide with anger. She tilted her head at him and, instead of staying red, his face turned purple as if her stare made him feel sick or frightened. "I have to pee!" He shouted and he ran out of the room, presumably to the bathroom.

"I'll beat him up later." The cherry blossom muttered, turning back to Sasuke who seemed to be smirking. "What?" She asked.

"Hn." He replied. "They're announcing the winners tomorrow and the winners will fight at noon." He informed her. Sakura nodded and then gave her teammate a quizzical look when she heard a bunch of people laugh downstairs. "Your mother invited us and Kakashi-sensei for dinner."

"Ohhhh." The girl said, remembering the first time Mebuki Haruno invited Team Seven for dinner. She took an instant liking towards Naruto and his boisterous personality, she already knew Kakashi and Sasuke was too awkward to make an impression. Kizashi was just cracking jokes left and right, mainly telling embarrassing stories about his daughter. After that, Team Seven was invited for dinner many times. Sometimes, Ino and Hinata tagged along. _They probably won't today._ Sakura thought.

"We should go down now." Sasuke said and his teammate nodded.

* * *

"And the cat scratched her!" Kizashi exclaimed as Mebuki and the males in Team Seven laughed while Sakura frowned.

 _How comes I'm the only one who gets made fun of here?_ The cherry blossom thought.

 **"Because you do a lot of stupid things."** Kokuo answered.

 _Thanks. I'll remember that. At least Shishou isn't here._ A few times, Mebuki had asked the Hokage to come for dinner as she was an important person to her daughter. Tsunade agreed and every joke Kizashi made about Sakura, the sanin remembered. She wasn't afraid to bring it up during training. In fact, Tsunade enjoyed coming over so much that the Haruno household now contained a special drawer in the kitchen full of sake specifically for the Godaime.

"Come back soon, boys!" Mebuki waved goodbye to the men of Team Seven as they left and Sakura's face stayed red after Kizashi's last story. Her dad elbowed her playfully and walked back into the living room. "Such lovely boys..." The Haruno Woman smiled. "You're very lucky, Sakura."

"Yeah... Sure." The pinkette said. "Otou-san!" She yelled, walking into the living room.

"Yes, musume?" He looked at her boredly.

"Can you teach me Lightning Release?" Sakura asked, trying to give her best 'puppy' look.

"Trying to learn all five, eh?" Kizashi laughed. "Sakura, you're only a 13 year old genin. Space some things out." He pinched her cheek.

 _I'll just hassle Kakashi-sensei again after this contest is over..._ She thought, not taking into account anything her father just said.

* * *

"Welcome, everyone!" Tsunade shouted, once again on top of the Hokage Tower. "We are here to announce two victors of the last round. These victors will be pit against one another, fighting to win the whole contest and make one regulation for Konoha."

People began to cheer and Genma and Raido lifted a monitor onto the roof. The Godaime pressed a button and two names appeared and changed to other names. It was eventually going to stop on two.

Sakura saw her name for a split second but it went. Then she saw it again, but it went. She saw many other names she recognised such as Kakashi and Kiba as well as Kankuro (A lot of people beginning with K).

Finally, it stopped on two names. Sakura Haruno... And Naruto Uzumaki.

The pinkette almost choked. _I won the second round but... I have to fight Naruto-kun?!_ In the midst of all the cheering, she locked eyes with said teammate. He looked sad but nodded at her, determined to win. Sakura nodded back, but she was nervous. She didn't know how to fight Naruto.

 **"You fight him like a normal person, dumbass."** Kokuo said - adding to the list of 'Stupid Things Sakura Thinks About'.

 _I know but... It's Naruto-kun!_

 **"I heard."**

 _Bitch._ Sakura cursed at the Gobi and only heard a laugh in response.

* * *

Sakura walked through the village, unsure of what to do before her match with Naruto. She had to be at the Chunin Exams at noon for the battle. _Naruto-kun?_ Sakura asked, trying to get into contact with her teammate. _Where are you?_

 _I'm at Ichiraku!_ The blonde exclaimed. _Oji-san is giving me free ramen! Do you wanna come?_ He asked.

 _No thanks, Naruto-kun. But, I have to ask you something._

 _Sakura-chan, what's wrong?_ Naruto questioned her.

 _When we fight, we fight without the help of Kurama and Kokuo-chan._ Sakura propsed.

 **"What?!"** Kokuo shouted loudly, making the Team Seven duo flinch. The idea came from the pinkette's evaluation of her fight with Ino and Hinata. She used Water Style which she could only use when utilising the Gobi's chakra. Plus, her attack at the end was swimming with the Five-Tails' chakra, which would explain why she saw steam (the Fire and Water chakra combined). While she was relying on chakra from her beast friend, Ino and Hinata used attacks they trained and learned themselves while using their own chakra supply. It didn't seem fair.

 _Alright!_ Naruto agreed. _I'll see you at the stadium. Good luck, Sakura-chan!_

 _Good luck, Naruto-kun._

Sakura couldn't help but feel nervous for her battle with her teammate. How would people react to two jinchuriki fighting? Wasn't anybody worried?

"Their's Sakura-chan!" Loud shouts of her name were heard. Looking up, the cherry blossom saw a bunch of boys around her age and a younger - down to a lot younger - looking at her. "We love you, Sakura-chan!"

 _Oh, crap..._ _I have a fan club._

She ran away.

* * *

The Gobi's host found herself at the Hokage Tower once again as she went to visit her master. She hadn't spoken to Tsunade in a couple of days so she wanted to check in.

Upon walking into her master's office, Sakura regretted coming immediately. The Godaime was complaining about paper work while drinking. She wasn't drunk but she would be in a bit. _I need to leave in a bit then._ The pinkette thought.

"There's my winner!" Tsunade cheered when she noticed her student. Scratch that, she was drunk off her ass. "Are you ready to kick that dumbass' ass?" She asked. Without giving Sakura a chance to answer, she screamed "Are you?!" Her pupil looked at her, wide-eyed. "You better be because I didn't train you for nothing."

"I am." Sakura said. "I'm gonna kick his ass." _Not completely._ She added in her head. _How am I supposed to kick Naruto's ass?_ It wasn't that she thought she couldn't, but she didn't think she could either, it was just that Naruto was her friend and was someone like her. They didn't seriously spar with each other - they trained together but that was different. She hit him a lot but they never fought. So, fighting Naruto was not something she thought she would ever do.

Maybe her worries were showing on her face because Tsunade put her hand on her student's head. "I know you can do it." She said before sitting on her desk and passing out. The pinkette turned the colour of her hair. After, she put Tsunade's cloak over her master's body. Then she left, deciding on going on a walk before going to the Chunin Exams Stadium.


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N So, somehow this story has over 30k views...** **Which is like MIND-BLOWING but I wonder why you read this story. Not many people leave reviews so this fanfiction seems like sort of an empty town. But, WOW, over 30,000 views. Thank you so so sooo much!**

 **I also wanted to let you know that I am open to constructive criticism as long as it is reasonable. I would also like it if you could suggest what I could do to improve, I don't want you to say you just don't like something because I won't know how to change it. You don't have to review to suggest something, you can PM me if you're more comfortable with doing that**.

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. And I don't own Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3.**

 **Chapter 32**

When Sakura strolled into the Chunin Exam Stadium, her eyebrows shot up because she was astounded by the turn out. The stadium was full of eager spectators who wanted to watch the Team Seven members fight for the title of Crystal Contest Champion. Even with the knowledge of their jinchuriki status, most people were excited to see the fight between two genin, especially after witnessing the two of them fight their respective opponents in the Chunin Exams and the first two rounds of this contest.

Upon entering, a Leaf jonin grabbed onto Sakura's arm and literally threw her into the ring. Naruto was already there and he offered her an energetic wave. "Sakura-chan!" He exclaimed. Although he seemed excited, the pinkette could detect some... reluctance in his wave, his posture and his voice.

"Naruto-kun, please don't go easy on me." The emerald-eyed kunoichi found herself saying. Her teammate's face dropped. "In this ring, I'm your opponent. You wouldn't restrain yourself against an enemy, would you?" She asked, obviously excluding the fact they there were not going to use their Bijuu powers.

The blonde boy didn't respond.

Tsunade stood up on the look-out tower. Initially, she was supposed to be the referee but, after drinking too much, the Godaime forced her assistant to do that. Groaning, the female sannin put her hand to her forehead and waited for the match to begin. _If Sakura doesn't win, I'm gonna-_ Her thoughts were cut off when she felt a searing pain in her head and groaned aloud.

Shizune was annoyed, that was clear as day. She never wanted to be the referee. That was the job for the Hokage. But, she was low-key excited about this match. Sakura had been training under her teacher, they were sisters in a way (Sakura even called her 'Shizune-nee-chan). And Naruto was always a curious case. His ability to be unpredictable made his battles so entertaining.

Sasuke was sitting in the stands, coincidentally next to Kakashi and Sakura's parents. The cherry blossom's mother was worried for the two genin in the ring, Kizashi looked excited (he also tried to calm down his wife) and the silver-haired jonin looked calm. However, we know that he's really not. In fact, Kakashi looked scary and unusual. He wasn't holding his book. Shocking, right?

"When is this going to start?" Naruto asked Shizune. They had been standing in the same spot while doing nothing for a while now...

"Oh, sorry." The medic replied. "Attention, Konoha and Suna residents." Chattering amongst the crowd began to die down. It continued to shrink until only a few mutters were heard. Shizune continued, understanding that this was as quiet as it was going to get even if she prefered total silence. "The final round in the Crystal Contest showcases a battle between," She pointed at Sakura. "Konoha genin, Sakura Haruno!" People began to cheer and the pinkette blushed bright red.

"Woohoo! Yeah, go Forehead!" Ino screamed for her friend.

 _Kokuo-chan, I need you to break off my connection to Naruto-kun. I don't want him to hear my thoughts during the battle._

 **"Very well, Sakura-chan."** The beast repllied.

 _And please don't help me._ Kokuo made a sound of agreement.

Shizune then pointed at Naruto once the cheers died down. "And Konoha genin, Naruto Uzumaki!" The cheers began again. While Sakura was embarrased, on the other hand, her teammate loved the attention. He was waving and shouting back at the crowd.

"Woohoo! Yeah, go Naruto!" Ino screamed for her other friend. "Princess is cheering for you two as well by the way!" Hinata turned red as people began to stare at her.

"Okay!" Shizune yelled, now having had enough of the rude audience's chattering. "Let the final round of the Crystal Contest... Begin!"

Right off the bat, both ninja gripped onto two shuriken each and flung it at each other. They collided in the middle, bouncing back and landing on the ground.

As soon as her shuriken stuck into the ground, Sakura dashed towards her opponent in a effort to let off a barage of punchs and kicks. However, Naruto formed dozens of shadow clones, enclosing himself in the middle.

"Shannaro!" The pinkette cried, slamming her fist into the ground. The earth crumbled, forcing many clones to poof out of existence. Infusing chakra into her kunai, she swiped at her enemies until one was left.

Naruto countered her slice quickly with his own kunai and the two played a dangerous game of 'Swipe and Retreat.' When Sakura swiped at his head, he ducked. In response, he sliced down the middle of her but she jumped over him, ready to attack again. The blonde had other ideas though, jumping backwards and shooting three clones at Sakura.

"Wind Style: Deep Breath Jutsu!" Sakura yelled, blowing out a large gust of wind at Naruto and his clones.

"Wind Style: Deep Breath Jutsu!" Naruto copied her and their attacks met in the middle - sadly with the clones - and phased out, not harming either of them.

 _That wasn't needed._ Sakura thought to herself. _I need to preserve my chakra. I don't have nearly as much as him._ She realised that at some point, she had. dropped one of her kunai, the one she was using before. _I could just do one big move and end it all... No, Naruto-kun's better than that._

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed, forming four clones. He jumped up, allowing four fake Narutos charge at his teammate.

One dived at her and she side-stepped out of the way. Another grabbed her from behind in a surprise attack and tossed her into the air.

 _Shit!_ She cursed.

The last two of the group of four clones punched her in the chin to force her upwards while screaming "Naruto!"

Spinning in the air above his opponent, the Uzumaki boy was getting ready to kick Sakura down to the ground. He hadn't used the Naruto Uzumaki Barrage in a while.

"Wind Style: Vaccum Bullet!" A quick swipe of air hit Naruto in the shoulder, drawing blood. He stumbled and missed his kick on Sakura and both of them began to fall to the ground.

Quickly thinking, they both created a clone that stabilised them to land carefully before dispelling.

 _Oh, God..._ Sakura inwardly sighed. _Not gonna lie, that was scary._

"Alright! Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed once again, but this time he created a lot more Narutos. Enough to fill the battlefield. Sakura felt the need to vomit at the display of orange in front of her.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" The Narutos yelled, forming the Transformation hand sign. "Not That Sexy Jutsu!" They all transformed...

Into naked Sasukes.

 _Sasuke-kun...?_ Sakura thought, feeling bewildered

 **"Sasuke-kuns."** Kokuo corrected her, feeling helpful.

"Hn." They began to repeat it over and over again. "Hn." Sasuke was beyond shocked at what Naruto had done and made a mental note to beat him senseless later. "Hn." He sighed once he realised that the smoke was covering his private bits. "Hn." He began to plot Naruto's death. "Hn."

The Uchiha scowled. "I don't do that..." He muttered to himself.

"Sasuke-kun!" Squeals were heard from multiple girls in the stadium.

"Naruto..." Sakura whispered, a deadly feeling was radiating out of her body. "Just when I started to think you were maturing!" She screamed, punching a fake Sasuke in the face all while ranting as she punched others. "I though after all this time you were growing up!" She kicked a Sasuke on the ass. "But, _noo!_ You're still as immature as day one!" She karate chopped a Sasuke on the neck. "I'm gonna kill you after this! Right after I find you!" She quickly and efficiently got rid of the offensive clones.

"It was just a joke!" Naruto squeaked, transforming back into his original body now that he was the only one left.

 _I need to protect myself from Sakura-chan!_ He thought to himself, creating more clones.

 _Again with the clones?_ Sakura questioned. _I know it's his signature move but... this seems a little excessive._

"Crap." Sakura muttered upon reviewing her chakra levels. _He's hiding within his clones, resting himself, while I'm fighting his copies. Well, I have the perfect thing._

"Naruto-kun." She said in her most sweetest voice. They all perked their ears up, ready to hear what she had to say. Instead, she began to sing. She didn't have the best singing voice but she wasn't afraid to sing in front of people.

I like to sing as I run.

I like to sing as I weep.

I like to sing to have fun.

I'd like to sing you to sleep.

The song was perculiar. It only consisted of those four lines being sung over and over. It sounded like a nursery rhyme, something that a mother would sing to their child. Not sure what she was up to, Naruto focused on the lyrics and the sound of her voice.

All of a sudden, he was underground. Trapped. It was tight and dark. He could hear his heartbeat. He began to have trouble breathing.

Pushing his hands above him, he grabbed the dirt and began to push himself up, through the dirt. He dug for minutes before reaching sunlight. However, someone seemed to be playing a cruel joke.

As soon as he got out, the ground opened up and swallowed him back down. It tightened once again, almost suffocating him. Once again, he dug upwards. And the same thing happened.

Everytime he tried, his efforts were futile. When he dug up, his hands hurt. When he was forced back down, his back hurt. And when he was trapped under the ground, his lungs hurt.

It was a horrific cycle of torture and Naruto didn't know what to do. How long had been doing this? How long would he have to do it for?

He was lucky when Sakura began to cough, her voice sore from all the singing. And that was how he got out but the terrifying jutsu had made all of his clones disappear.

"Argh!" The Nine-Tails jinchuriki groaned, feeling the pain he felt while trapped in the jutsu.

Sakura cleared her throat. _He's not down._ She thought. _The genjutsu should have taken him out._ It took a lot of chakra out of her and she hoped it would have put him down. Did she over-estimate her jutsu or under-estimate Naruto?

Reaching for her pouch, Sakura was terrified to learn that it was no longer there. Her mind reeled back to when she last had it. In reality, when Sakura was battling the Sasuke clones, one had taken it off of her without her knowledge.

So, now she barely had any chakra and no ninja tools to use.

 _What should I do now?_ Sakura asked herself, her mind running through different strategies to win. But, there was none. Well, except one. Her final move. She had just enough chakra to end it all.

Determination spread across her face. Forming the necessary hand signs, Sakura was going to use her ultimate Earth Jutsu.

Deeply, almost scarily, a growl escaped her mouth and Naruto looked at her in confusion. Her body was tense, her veins bulging out of her face. She looked slightly constipated.

"Earth Style: Giant Weighted Boulder Jutsu!" A colossal piece of earth flew into the air from outside of the stadium. Everyone stared at it in awe as Sakura began to drag it downwards to the battlefield. Naruto stood no chance.

It crashed onto the ground, breaking into thousands of pieces and creating a large cloud of dust appear. The dust shielded the audience's view of the fight. Once the cloud dissipated, Sakura was crouching on the ground due to her chakra exhaustion. Naruto was laying on the ground, face flat on the ground.

 _That's... it. ...Done. I'm so... tired. I'm actually panting in my head._ The pinkette felt the urge to collapse onto the ground and fall asleep, not giving even the slightest damn about the people watching her.

A stirring interrupted her inner thoughts. Naruto twitched his hand and clawed the earth. He did the same with his other hand. Slowly, agonisingly slowly, he stood up. Blood trailed down his lip, accidentally having bit his lip in terror at the giant boulder. The blonde's clothes were dirty and tattered after his teammate's brutal attack.

How had he toughed that out? It was a boulder! And he still got up?

 _What do I do now?_ Sakura thought to herself.

"I can't lose..." Naruto said to her, breathing deeply. Dusting off his clothes, he got back into his stance.

 _No weapons, no chakra and no energy... I'm a mess._ The cherry blossom concluded. _Naruto-kun is really strong._

"You're really strong, Naruto-kun." She voiced her thoughts. Turning to Shizune, Sakura sealed the fate of the battle. "I give." She said. "I'm done."

 **A/N I don't like this chapter. I don't like the fight. But, I didn't know how else to go about it. What do you think about Sakura losing? Did you see it coming? What about the genjutsu? I thought that, since people go into genjutsu by seeing something (e.g. Sharingan), I thought what if they heard something. It has most likely been done before and it ain't that special. Not all that good.** **And I just made up that little song on the spot. I didn't know what to write there. Okay, I'm babbling. Sorry. Bye.**


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N So, the beginning is the ending of the Crystal Contest Arc and then we're going to flow into a normal chapter.** **This is a bit of a filler chapter but I didn't want to go right into Sasuke Retrieval, it didn't feel right.**

 **Responses to Guest reviews below this line.**

 **Fanonymous: Thanks for the tip. I'll try my best to try and dive into that ocean. (Well, maybe not so much with this chapter since it was already written).** **I hate to be the stupid guy but I am. I'm not entirely sure about what you want me to do. My guess is that you want me to portray my characters as... less robotic, maybe? By explaining their emotions better?**

 **Nanami: Thank you for reviewing and for your kind words. But I in no way meant to offend you. I appreciate the fact that you read the story and if you don't want to review then that is perfectly fine.** **I am not forcing anyone, I would never do that. But it would be nice to hear something from time to time but it is entirely your choice.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. And I don't own Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3.**

 **Chapter 33**

"You give up?" Shizune asked Sakura, her mouth partly open in shock.

"Yep." The pinkette replied.

"Well, alright then..." The older medic mumbled. "Sakura Haruno forfeits. The winner of the Crystal Contest is... Naruto Uzumaki!" She announced, making the entire stadium erupt into cheers.

"Yeah, Naruto!" Ino screamed at the top of her lungs. "Sorry, Forehead!"

Naruto payed no mind to the screaming stand. Instead, he walked towards his teammate and gave her a hug which she accepted with open arms.

"It's for the fans. And the shippers." Naruto jokingly whispered to her.

"Asshole." She replied, giggling at a joke she would have normally punched him for.

"Naruto." Tsunade got his attention after jumping down from the Hokage Tower. "What's your regulation?" The Fifth asked yet her tone made it seem like she already knew what it was.

 _He never told me._ Sakura thought.

"Oh, right..." A cheeky smile made its way to Naruto's face. Pointing right at the leader of Konoha, he yelled "I wanna replace you! I wanna be the Sixth Hokage!"

 ** _THWAP!_**

"You idiot!" Sakura shrieked after hitting her teammate. "You can't make a rule about being Hokage! It doesn't work like that!"

"Ahh!" The Nine-Tails' host cried, clutching his head.

"I was afraid of this." Tsunade sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I guess it could be arranged for, maybe, a week." She surprisingly said.

"Really?" Naruto perked up.

"Really?" Sakura was shocked.

"It's not permanent." The Hokage warned him. "God forbid you ever go into office..." She mumbled. "Sakura will be your assistant."

"What?!" The cherry blossom shrieked.

"That's what you get for losing and for creating a giant hole outside of the stadium."

 _Whoops._ "Is it for seeing you drunk as well?" The genin asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't drink." With that, the Godaime left.

Naruto and Sakura were walking to the infirmary while the former gushed about their new job.

"Obviously, you are going to have to take time off from The Yamanaka Flower Shop. That goes without saying." Naruto said, making his teammate groan. "This is going to be so fun!"

* * *

"I hate this!" The blonde complained while sitting at the Hokage desk. It just hit noon and he had been sitting in this chair all day, signing documents. Sakura stood next to him, sick of his constant complaining.

"Um... Hokage-sama?" Raido sighed, walking into the office with stacks of files. "These also need your signature."

"What?!" The Dobe screeched. "That's it. I'm done. Oba-chan can have her job back."

"I'm afraid that can't be arranged." Sakura said, opening her note pad. "Tsunade-shishou said - and I quote - 'Tell that stupid-ass idiot that he can't quit until the week is up'. It's been a day, honey." She reminded him.

"Whyyyy?!"

 ** _Meanwhile..._**

"This is the life." Tsunade sighed with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, you said it." Shizune replied, in bliss. They were currently at the hot springs.

"I really needed this." The Hokage admitted, soaking in the warmth.

"Yeah, you said it." Her assistant repeated.

"This is so relaxing."

"Yeah, you said it."

And it's all thanks..." The Fifth paused. "To Naruto." She sighed with content.

"Yeah, you said it."

"At this rate, I wouldn't mind if he was the Hokage for a month."

"Yeah, you said it."

* * *

Weeks had passed since the Crystal Contest. When Naruto's time as Hokage was up, Tsunade was in such a good mood that she payed the genin duo for their work. She even gave them little snacks as they left the office. Of course, her good mood only lasted a day. After that, she became her usual rude and alcoholic self who pushed Sakura to her limits during training.

Sakura went back to her usual training routine after the contest. Currently, she was jogging with Naruto and Sasuke in the morning. Kakashi had decided to force them to do this as they waited for him.

Sakura and Naruto kept running at the same pace so they could talk as they ran. Sasuke ran slightly ahead of them but sometimes he slowed down and joined in on their conversations.

"I haven't seen Ero-sennin in a while." The blonde told his friend.

"Shishou told me that he left on a mission. Probably to write more for his perverted book series."

"Sakura, you hurt me." Kakashi appeared, making the genin halt. He was holding an Icha Icha book, defensively holding it to his chest.

"It's a trap!" The Kyuubi's host yelled. The pinkette nodded and the Uchiha withdrew a kunai from his pouch.

"Wait, what's going on?" The jonin asked, scratching his head.

"Don't try and sell it!" The Dobe screamed. "Kakashi-sensei is never this early!"

The masked man checked his internal clock. He was over an hour late. Was he really so late all the time?

"Shut up." He slapped Naruto on the head, making Sasuke smirk and Sakura giggle.

"What are we doing today?" The cherry blossom asked once they got to the Training Field.

"Your normal shadow clone battle of the day." The son of the White Fang announced. None of them complained as they already knew about this. "And, if you do well, Sasuke, I'll teach you Sharingan genjutsu, for Naruto, I'll teach you more ninjutsu and Sakura, I'll teach you lightning release." Kakshi was in a good mood.

"Really?"

"Are you serious?!"

"Hn?"

"You just have to beat my shadow clone." Kakashi made one, pouring half of his chakra in it this time.

The genin surrounded him, looking at each other to decide who would go first. In unspoken words, it was decided that Sasuke would attack first, closely followed by Naruto.

The taijutsu battle they engaged in was decent but the clone of their sensei was strong. Stronger than they would have imagined.

"Water Style: Water Dolphin Bullet!" Sakura began to attack from afar as Naruto and Sasuke continued with their close up attacks. They got out of the way of the water dolphin but, unfortunately, so did the clone.

 _Genjutsu the bastard!_ Naruto yelled in Sakura's head.

She began to sing, singing the same song that she used on her teammate in the final round of the Crystal Contest. Team Seven was always prepared; Sasuke and Naruto were wearing earplugs.

The clone froze on the spot, captured in the illusion. The cherry blossom continued to sing, her throat now starting to hurt, as her teammates kicked his body about. They then restrained him, tying the clone up quickly with a rope produced from a scroll.

Sakura voice begin to crack, stinging from the constant singing. Her weakened singing allowed the clone to break out of the genjutsu as it was also weaker. And as soon as he awoke, the clone ripped himself out of his binding. Luckily, Sasuke and Naruto combo kicked up at the clone's chin as soon as he got up, throwing him into the air.

Sakura readied herself to jump up.

"Sakura!" Sasuke warned.

"Get back!" So did Naruto.

 _What?_ The emerald-eyed girl questioned as she watched her teammates jump into the air on either side of the clone. _Did they just tell me to... get back?_ She asked herself, affronted.

 **"Holy shit."** Kokuo commented. The Five-Tails knew that Sakura was as defiant as ever. Tsunade would be proud of her student.

Jumping higher so that she was directly above the clone, Sakura focused chakra into her fist. A spiral of chakra formed in Naruto's palm and lightning crackled around Sasuke's hands.

With all of their moves charged up, Team Seven unleashed the greatest combo attack ever.

"Rasengan!"

"Chidori!"

"Shannaro!"

They met in the middle, creating a sphere of madness in mid-air. Some trees broke, the ground definitely shattered and Kakashi's eyebrows shot to his hairline. Once all the dust cleared up, Team Seven were resting on the ground, breathing heavily.

"What were you doing?!" Kakashi yelled, hitting the pinkette's head with his book.

"Ow!" She cried. "We beat the clone." She informed him in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Look at the state of you. Why did you do that?" Her sensei told her off, worry evident in his tone.

"I'm fine." The pinkette said. "Look, my clothes aren't even dirty." She looked at her sleeve.

"That's your arm, Sakura." Sasuke told her, dusting off his shorts.

"What?!" She shrieked, looking at her blackened arm. "Holy shit." She poked it. Her sleeve had... disintergrated or something in the blast, leaving her arm exposed. Naruto and Sasuke quickly checked their clothes but they still seemed to be intact. Although, their hands were dirty.

"We better get you to the hospital." Kakashi sighed.

"The hospital?!"

Team Seven then dragged a resistant mini-Tsunade to the hospital. It took an hour. They weren't surprised.

* * *

"Look at your arm!"

"It looks so cool!"

"What happens if you poke it?"

Sakura was sitting on the hospital bed, her arm bandaged up all the way. She looked like a hybrid of a human and a mummy.

Naruto, Ino and Hinata were crowding around her. They were asking many questions, so many that the pinkette began slamming her head against her pillow.

Sasuke was trying really hard not to laugh while lounging in the corner of the room.

* * *

Tsunade had told Sakura that she had to stay overnight in the hospital. The student yawned in her teacher's face to show how unimpressed she was.

The sannin stole her jelly because of that.

The pinkette was dreaming. She was skipping through the streets of Konoha. Many people stopped her to say hello and Sakura always replied back with such cheer (the happiness radiating off of her body was terrifying).

With glee, she hugged Naruto upon seeing him. Her neck was resting on his shoulder and he began to chat about ramen with her as they were hugging. When they let go, the blonde left to go find Hinata.

Behind him stood Sasuke. Surprisingly, Sakura hugged him and he allowed her, wrapping his arms around her body. He whispered something in her ear, as if he was embarassed to say anything. He held onto her tighter.

Then, his body sagged to the ground after she stabbed him. Staring at his body bleeding out on the street, Sakura turned grey and she proceeded to attack every person in Konoha on sight. Blood sprayed on the streets and the sound of people screaming in fear and pain was heard.

Sakura jolted awake. She was sweating profusely. Her breaths were rapid. Her heart was pounding.

 _Oh, God... These dreams... Why do I have these nightmares all the time? Why am I like this?_

It was terrifying to have dreams like this that felt so real. She had no idea what they were really about but, from what she knew about dreams, was that they had meaning. So, she had to find out something in particular.

 _Who does the Grey Sakura represent?_

The Grey Sakura must have been a symbol of another person whom the cherry blossom was scared of, maybe unconsciously scared of. She was scared that they would attack Konoha.

But who would it be? Who's loyalty to Konoha was wavering at this very second? Who was the traitor, if it was a traitor at all?

Sakura's thoughts immediately flew towards Orochimaru. He betrayed the Leaf Village so he fit the description. But, it seemed too easy. And were her dreams even accurate at all?

 _Only time will tell._ She thought. For the rest of the night, Kokuo talked to Sakura, trying to cheer up her friend.

* * *

"Don't let him get away!" A man yelled at the group of ninja. The brown skin around his face was wrinkled and his eyebrows were crossed. He was not happy.

The collection of chunin scattered into the forest, attempting to chase the boy their boss wanted.

Tadashi almost smiled when he felt their chakra signatures sink further and further away. He should've known that _chunin_ wouldn't have been able to catch him. Did he think he was an amateur?

Knowing that this would rile them up even more, he roughly tore his forehead protector from his shoulder and tossed it to the ground, leaving it forgotten in the dust.

 **A/N I'm hoping that you guys didn't think I forgot about Tadashi. *winks***

 **Sorry, I'll stop.**

 **I feel weird about this chapter but I don't know why.**

 **Anyway, if I don't update for a while, it is because I have exams coming up and I really need to prepare for them. I'm sorry if I don't upload for a while.**


	34. Chapter 34

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **There will be a few chapters before Sasuke Retrieval. Mainly because I need things to build up (and I don't want to get into that angsty place so soon. Sasuke annoys me but I cried during the scene where Sakura tried to convince him to stay in canon).**

 **Chapter 34**

Kakashi stood in the Hokage's office, conversing with the head of Konoha. He met with Tsunade weekly because he wanted updates on Sakura's training (he also did this with Jiraiya for Naruto). The Godaime spoke proudly of their student most of the time while praising her for the progress she had made in such little time.

"I mean, she is almost doing as good as I did at that age. ...Almost." Tsunade said, taking a gulp of water that was on her desk.

"Have you noticed anything unusual about her behaviour lately?" The jonin asked, utilising a leading question to get an answer out of the Hokage. Lately, Sakura had been... jumpy and out of it at times.

"A week ago, the day she got out of the hospital, she was grumbling about stupid men. I didn't know what that was about though." She replied.

Kakashi smirked. "I know about that. Naruto and Sasuke... They are both trying to force Sakura out of harms way. And show off a little too." He explained, remembering how they defeated his shadow clone.

"They both like her." The blonde laughed. "And they were already rivals, that's rich!" She slapped the table.

"I hope it doesn't prove to a be a problem later on though." Kakashi admitted, finding the idea of a love triangle forming inconvenient.

"Ah!" Tsunade suddenly exclaimed. She began to rifle through her drawers on the desk. "That reminds me! Sakura's hands getting bruised is becoming a problem." The Fifth threw a pair of black gloves onto the desk. "A gift from me."

"I'll get them to her." Kakashi collected them, bowed and then proceeded to leave.

"Don't be so worried about Sasuke and Naruto." Tsunade called after him. "It's cute that they want to protect her."

* * *

It was like any other day. Team Seven were at the Training Field, and they were training. Nothing perculiar here, everything was normal. There was no indication of anything strange in the area and nothing was out of order.

Kakashi did not go back on his promise. He began to train his genin in the areas in which they wanted. For Naruto, the blonde wanted a larger ninjutsu arsenal, aware that this was what held him back. Sasuke finally had an oppurtunity to learn genjutsu with his Sharingan and Sakura was estatic that she could learn her fifth nature release.

They trained separately. The Kyuubi's host stood near the river, attempting to control his chakra enough to learn a new jutsu. The Sharingan users were having a private discussion, no doubt about the Sharingan. The Gobi's host was trying to bring up a spark of lightning. So far, her efforts had been futile.

 _How am I supposed to bring out lightning?_ She inwardly grumbled, silently blaming her bandaged arm - and after that, she unreasonably blamed her new gloves.

Kokuo let out a loud yawn. **"Are you still going on about that? Time really goes slow when I'm with you.**

 _You're always with me._ Sakura replied.

 **"Exactly."**

The pinkette rolled her eyes at the beast. After failing to bring out lightning again, she angrily stomped her foot onto the ground. "It's the stupid gloves, it has to be!" She shrieked and began to take them off.

"How's it going, Sakura?" Kakashi asked his student, stopping her from throwing her gloves away.

 _Just fucking lovely. I've been standing here for an hour and have made not an ounce of improvement, so I'm just doing great._

"Fine." She responded aloud.

The jonin nodded his head. "Maybe you should give up." Sakura felt the training field grow darker, as if a grey cloud began to loom over it. "You'll never learn it. You're too weak."

"What...?" The cherry blossom began but the words died in her throat. Her lungs began to hurt suddenly.

"Sakura-san!" Naruto called out to her. "What are you doing here?! This is for the strong people!"

"Sakura." Her head whipped to Sasuke. He looked at her with such hate that she trembled before he spoke. "Why did you kill me?" Blood was gushing out of his stomache.

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" Naruto asked, worry evident in his tone. She looked at him, confusion clouding her eyes. Where was Kakashi and Sasuke? They were just here, she was sure of it. And Naruto was far away from her, but now he was right by her? What was going on?

Sakura felt as if something was blocking her lungs. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Instinctively, she began to gasp for air. Her breathing grew deeper and quicker. She was huffing loudly, trying to take in as much oxygen as she could.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked again. His teammate was breathing rapidly and he didn't know what to do. "Sakura." She looked at him fearfully. "Focus on my breathing." He took in some air and let it out slowly. The emerald-eyed girl tried to copy him although, she was a little more rushed.

They continued calmly breathing for a while until Sakura had control over herself. Once her breathing regulated, she sighed and sank to the ground, not daring to look her teammate in the eye.

 _What just happened?_ She asked herself. _I've never done that before._

"What's going on?" Kakashi and Sasuke had returned, the former's eye crinkled at his other students. "What's wrong?" He asked, crouching down to Sakura's level. Sasuke frowned at the sight of her.

"Sakura-chan had an anxiety attack." Naruto told him, earning a slightly shocked glance from the pinkette. No one would ever think this, but Naruto was observant. Not in battle or anything like that, but about how people were feeling. And, lately he had been sensing some... stress radiating off of his favourite teammate's body. Plus, he saw how she was acting before her episode and he was familar with the term anxiety. Iruka had taught him about it, the chunin said he experienced them himself.

"I'm fine." The cherry blossom spoke before anyone else could, standing up as if she was saying she was actually fine by doing so.

"Hmm..." The jonin hummed. "It would be better if we ended training here for the day. Even better that it's your day off tomorrow."

Sakura frowned and decided that she was going to stay back and train. She needed to get lightning release down.

"Naruto, Sasuke. Both of you take Sakura home, alright?" Before they could answer, and the girl could protest, he disappeared.

But, just to make sure, he observed them from the roof of a house to see if they complied with his orders. The boys seemed adamant to do so while Sakura complained the entire way there. They wouldn't listen to any of her complaints and she eventually gave up. After explaining the situation to Mebuki, the boys glared at each other slightly before making their own way home.

Kakashi sighed. He hoped nothing bad would happen because of this protectiveness the rivals had started to feel. And he hoped Sakura would be okay...

* * *

Many days had passed since Sakura's first anxiety attack. She had gone to the doctor and they proved Naruto to be right, the pinkette had anxiety. She often felt nervous and tense. She felt danger because of her dreams. Many worries invaded her mind and she was sent into a state where she couldn't breathe and began to hyperventilate.

The doctors conducted many tests. Some were tests where she had to write how she was feeling and answer a series of questions about herself. Other tests included her giving a sample of blood or something so the doctors could rule out any physical illnesses that made her feel this way. In the end, they confirmed that she had anxiety.

It happened twice more. Two more anxiety attacks had happened. The second time was during a D-Rank mission where Team Seven were instructed to babysit children. The cherry blossom looked at the baby in the household and worry made its way into her mind as she thought about Konoha blowing up and this child not being able to live their life. After Kakashi calmed Sakura down, the parents deemed her as "too dangerous to be around the kids" and Team Seven was sent away, the mission failed. Naruto and Sasuke didn't say anything rude to her though. In fact, they even tried to cheer her up with a team dinner.

The third time she had an anxiety attack was at home in front of her mother. There were talks about a new Chunin Exams and her mother brought it up casually. Memories flooded the genin's mind of the last Chunin Exams and she began to breathe rapidly once again.

These attacks began to worry people around her so much (and herself) that she now began to take medication for anxiety.

It was a struggle. Never did she think she would need this medication. Never did she think she would have a mental disorder, especially at her age. It now made people wary of her. Not that they were scared - although there was some stigma towards mental health - but they were concerned for her. But the most concerned were Naruto and Sasuke.

They doted on her and fought with each other about what made her more comfortable, which then made her uncomfortable. They even refused to spar with her at times and she really needed to twist their arms to make them relent (figuratively and literally).

She was getting annoyed. Everyone was treating her like she was made of glass. Even Hinata and Ino were constantly asking if she was okay. It was sweet - Sakura would admit that - but, when they were asking continuously, it irritated her.

One day, after she had trained with Kurenai and Kakashi, the pinkette and her teammates were having lunch at Naruto's house. Often, the blonde would barely have any money to go out to eat so the genin in Team Seven ate food at his house (he refused to take money from them). So, they sat at his small dining table and began to eat.

"Naruto-kun, you really need to clean this place up." Sakura remarked.

"It's like a pig-sty in here." Sasuke decided to add, earning a glare from Naruto.

"What do you mean?" The Dobe asked. "I threw everything in my closet in the morning."

"Nothing..." The cherry blossom sighed, twirling around some of her noodles. "Did you guys hear about the new Chunin Exams?"

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed at her. "This time we'll pass for sure!"

"If you want to enter. Do you?" The Uchiha asked her.

"What? Of course I do." Sakura answered. "I just... I don't know. After the last one, I wonder what villages would willingly come to Konoha."

"Maybe the exams will be hosted somewhere else." Naruto responded. "I want to go to a new, cool place! There'll be more people to fight! I'll kick their asses, believe it!"

"You'll embarrass us." Sasuke told him and the jinchuriki kicked him under the table.

"Take that back!" He cried.

"Play nice, boys." Sakura announced, her voice laced with a threatening undertone.

Slowly, they retreated, giving each other icy stares across the table. "Teme is excited to go though. He still needs to find a girl."

Sakura choked on her noodles. "What?"

"What?!" Sasuke growled.

"Remember. You need to revive your clan, you said so when we first met Kakashi-sensei. If we travel to a new area, there'll be girls who don't know how much of an ass you are. You can find a wife there! Or just someone to knock up."

"Naruto!" The pinkette admonished. "We're thirteen! Stop talking about Sasuke-kun getting someone pregnant." Her words fell upon deaf ears. Annoyed, she walked over to her teammate's kitchen and put some more noodles in her bowl, angrily throwing them in.

"I don't want to find a bride." The Sharingan user stated after a beat.

"And, pray tell, how are you going to revive your clan?" Naruto asked, his voice dripping with mockery.

It wasn't like Sasuke didn't think about this, he did sometimes. But he didn't have someone particular in mind. Okay, maybe he did but he was too young, nothing was set in stone. But, Sasuke needed to get the message across to his male teammate. She was not his to have.

"With Sakura."

Naruto choked on his noodles and Sakura dropped her bowl onto the floor.

Sasuke frowned at his teammates. _What did I say that was so bad?_


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N Thanks for over 80 reviews!** **I'M CRYING!**

 **And thanks for the lovely reviews last chapter. I'm amazed by the response towards Sakura's anxiety, I thought people wouldn't like that for some reason. But you guys did (well, the people who reviewed did). I CRIED!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 35**

"I can't believe he said that!" Sakura slammed her fist onto the counter at the Yamanaka Flower Shop. What she was saying was in reference to Sasuke's comment the day before, about him reviving his clan using Sakura. Using her as if she were his object or play thing.

In response to his comment, the pinkette became a stuttering mess. Even moreso than Hinata around Naruto. Not knowing what to do, she ran out of the apartment as if her life depended on it. At training earlier in the day, the three genin didn't speak of the prior event.

"I know!" Ino growled, throwing some flowers onto the shelves roughly. With a serious expression, she turned to her friend. "You want me to kick his ass?"

The question made Hinata snicker into her hand.

"No! I mean, yeah! Um... I think?" The cherry blossom put her hand under her chin in deep thought. "I know!" An idea struck! "Use your Mind Transfer Jutsu and give him a wedgie!"

"Yes!" The blonde snapped her fingers and pointed at Sakura as if she were saying "That's the one!" Stomping away, Ino swung open the door to go find Sasuke but an orange blur knocked her onto the ground. "Ow!" She cried as she fell to the floor, pushing Naruto off of her after she had landed.

"Sakura-chan, it's terrible!" Naruto cried, eyes wide in terror as he explained to her what he had been up to. "Teme and I thought it would be funny to hide Kakashi-sensei's book but I forgot where I hid it and I didn't tell Teme where it was!"

"Holy shit." The three girls said in unison.

"Naruto-kun, we'll hide you in here." Hinata told him, ushering him in the back of the store. Usually, she would have mumbled it in Naruto's prescence but this was a serious, life or death situation. Sakura felt their chakra signatures disappear.

"I can sense Kakashi-sensei, he's on his way here!" The blonde announced.

"Quick! Act casual!" The pinkette exclaimed. Ino ran behind the counter and posed with her arm pointing in the air. Sakura froze herself in the motion of placing a bouqet on the shelf. "Wait." She turned to her friend, confused. Realising what was wrong, they switched places.

The son of the White Fang sauntered into the shop, acting as if he weren't out for blood. "Sakura." He began, stalking up to the counter.

She panicked. "Sorry, do I know you?"

"Where's Naruto?" Her teacher ignored her question.

"You're asking where Naruto-kun is?" She asked. "As in... Naruto-kun? You mean... Naruto-kun?"

"Stop stalling."

"Um..." She didn't know what to say. But then she had an idea. She was a very petty person and - after her conversation with Ino and Hinata - her anger at Sasuke was still lying there.

 _Claiming me as if I were his_ _toy..._

 **"Asshole."** Kokuo commented, anger radiating off of her voice. After all, girlfriends stick together. Sisters before misters and all that.

"Just between me and you..." She whispered to her sensei. "I heard he hid the book in Sasuke-kun's apartment. And that it was Sasuke-kun's idea."

Kakashi could detect a lie in an instant normally. But his prescious book was on the line and he jumped at the chance of finding it. So, without another word, he left the store, intending on visiting the Uchiha.

"Naruto, Princess, you can come out now!" Ino called after a few beats. The two genin walked back into the front of the store and Naruto thanked them for hiding him before scurrying off at a rapid pace, claiming that he was supposed to meet Jiraiya at the Hot Springs. No one commented on the fact that they were meeting up at the Hot Springs.

"How was training?" Sakura asked her friends.

"Neji-nii-san and Otou-san have been teaching me how to do the Rotation." Hinata replied. "It... It's really hard."

"I'm sure you'll get it down." Ino told her, offering a smile of encouragement. "I was sparring with Chouji and I used my blade. He wasn't very happy when I cut his potato chips bag and they all spilled to the floor." The Team Ten kunoichi explained.

Sakura chuckled and then remembered the fight the three of them had during the Crystal Contest. Hinata had used her attack she had developed before the Ash Village mission: the Heavens Dance of Hazy White. Ino had developed a poisoned chakra blade - but she could take the poison out whenever she wanted. To the Pinkette's surprise, the Pig had been training under Shizune who had taught her that ability.

Now, Sakura had been training under Tsunade. Ino had been training under Shizune. Hinata had been training alongside Neji and Hiashi. Naruto had been training under Jiraiya. And Sasuke had been training under Kakashi to work on his Sharingan. Not to mention all of the other members of the Konoha Twelve were hard at work.

 _God, it's crazy how far we've come..._

* * *

"Would you two stop fighting for, like, five seconds?" Sakura groaned as Naruto and Sasuke were, once again, at one another's throats. This time, the arguement was about how Naruto thought Sasuke was staring at him and joked about taking a picture. It resulted in Sasuke responding that the picture would be banned from the world for "being too ugly."

"He started it!" The two boys yelled, making the cherry blossom growl. Ignoring the two of them, she began to set up the three tents a fair distance away from the fire.

Before, Team Seven would only bring two tents - one for Kakashi and one for the genin. But, one day, Sakura complained about being a lady surrounded by boys so now, each member had their own tents while one person was on watch.

Team Kakashi were on their way back from a mission at Suna. It was nothing special, just a mission to strengthen the alliance they now had. One thing that surprised Sakura was that Suna still didn't have a Kazekage, apparently they were waiting for someone to grow older. She had met up with Temari while there. The Wind User had asked about Shikamaru with a pink tint to her cheeks. The cherry blossom teased her which only resulted in awkward jokes in response about her and Sasuke.

"Sakura, you have first watch." Kakashi told her, closing his book. His tone was a bit... curt. He had found out that Sakura had lied about Sasuke being guilty of his book's disappearance. But only after he dragged the Uchiha's body underground did he find out. Luckily, Naruto remembered where the book was - in his jacket (the pinkette beat the crap out of him after that).

Later in the night, only the sound of the fire burning and the insects buzzing could be heard. Sakura was drawing on the ground, a long stick in her hand. Absent-mindedly, she drew a beast with five tails.

 _What do you look like, Kokuo-chan?_

 **"You know what I look like."** The bijuu replied.

 _No, I've never seen you before._ Sakura didn't know how to get back into the sewer - or the Blank Space as Kokuo called it. And all the times she had been in there, she had never actually seen what Kokuo had looked like.

The Gobi grunted. **"Hmph. Funny."**

 _So..._ The cherry blossom trailed off.

The beast replied, a tad defensively. **"Maybe you should worry about those nightmares** **of yours."**

 _How am I supposed to do anything about the nightmares if I don't know what they are actually about? It's not like I can talk to anyone about them, they'll think I'm crazy. And, if the Grey Sakura represents a traitor, who could it be?_

 **"Calm down, Sakura-chan."** At her friend's warning, Sakura realised that she had begun to breathe rapidly. She paused and found herself, urging herself to breathe in regulation. Once she succeeded, she popped one of her prescribed pills in her mouth and sighed once she swallowed it.

"I'm running out." She commented. "Need to get a new prescription."

"Who are you talking to?" Sasuke had startled her with his question.

"You scared me!" She exclaimed, hand on her chest as she looked at the Uchiha. He was wearing a cloak and his hair was going in different directions, he had just woken up.

"Who are you talking to?" Sasuke repeated his question, adamant for her to answer it.

"Um... Myself." Sakura replied, standing. "It's your shift now, right? Well, goodnight." Quickly, she darted into the vacant tent and wrapped herself in her sleeping bag.

* * *

Back at Konoha, a week later, Sakura continued trying to learn Lightning Style. She had been trying for so long yet no sparks had shown up. Her patience was thinning and she was tempted to sell her soul to the devil in exchange for the nature release.

"Wind Style: Wind Dragon Jutsu!" The wind picked up on Training Ground Seven and formed into a dragon. It roared and charged into the water, causing a wave of water to jump up and rain down on Team Seven.

"Well done, Naruto-kun!" Sakura cheered, ignoring the fact that he caused the entire team to get wet.

"Now to move onto the next one..." Kakashi said, although his tone suggested he was quite proud of his student.

"Alright! People are going to bow down at my MAD ninjutsus, believe it!" The blonde yelled, doing a bit of a happy dance. He was stopped when his sensei threw a yellow scroll at him. Grumbling at being interrupted, he scanned the scroll's contents. "Huh?" He wondered aloud. "Flying Raijin Jutsu? What's that?"

"A teleportation jutsu." The silver-haired jonin nonchalantly replied.

"No way! Can you teach me it?!" The jinchuriki asked, a fire lit in his eyes.

"No." His face dropped. "Only because I don't know it. I'm testing to see how well you can learn a jutsu on your own, Naruto."

"I'll learn it, believe it!"

"Isn't that the technique the Nidaime and the Yondaime knew?" Sakura questioned her sensei. He smiled at her in response. "You'll know a Hokage's jutsu if you learn that, Naruto-kun."

"Yeah! I'll be one step closer to becoming Hokage!" His glee seemed to be so infectious that all of Team Seven broke out in smiles - albeit Sasuke's was a bit hidden.

The student of the Fourth Hokage turned to his female student. "How is Lightning Style coming along?" He queried. She growled at him and stomped away, leaving a confused Kakashi behind.

"It's probably THAT time of the month." Naruto said to Sasuke.

"Hn." The Uchiha agreed.

* * *

"Bye!" Sakura yelled to Naruto and Kakashi after dinner at Ichiraku. They waved and said their farewells in response. Sasuke had gone and left already wordlessly, or so she thought.

Turning around, the Uchiha was standing there and he was staring at her.

"Something wrong, Sasuke-kun?" The pinkette asked him. _Why does he look... weird?_

"What happened to you on that mission?" The Sharingan User asked after a few beats of silence.

"Pardon?"

"Don't act stupid, Sakura." He all but snapped. "The mission with your dad. Where something had interfered."

Was this what had been bothering him? Was this why he gave her odd looks at times? Hadn't he asked this before?

"N- nothing happened." She stuttered. "I'm fine."

"Kakashi knows. Ino and Hinata know. Hell, even the Dobe knows!" He yelled the ending. "I've waited long enough for an answer."

"Maybe you don't have a right to know!" Sakura responded, feeling the need to defend herself.

"So you trust them more than me?"

"I never said that!" The cherry blossom exploded, her breathing now irregular. She took a moment to calm herself before speaking again. "Is all this because of what happened at Naruto-kun's place? Is this because I rejected you?"

"You didn't reject me." Was Sasuke's reply.

"Take silence as a no." She retorted icily.

He nodded slowly but did not relent. "What happened on that mission?" She sighed exasperatedly but he continued. "You attitude changed, you suddenly got stronger and you and the Dobe got even weirder."

"If I don't want you to know then, you should respect my decision." Sakura calmly said. She turned on her heel and proceeded to walk away, fuming.

But his hand gripped onto her arm, preventing her from walking away. "I want an answer."

"Let go of my arm, Sasuke." The lack of the honorific was heard but no comment was made on it. And her command fell onto deaf ears. So, she did what she would have done to anyone who would not let go of her.

She pulled Sasuke towards her, and let her fist fly into his cheek. He stumbled backwards, slightly shocked (and also glad that she didn't use any chakra).

He glared at her before stalking off. Sakura replied by glaring at his back before walking in the opposite direction.

 **A/N Shizune be like: AAIIIIEEEEEEEEE!**


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N One of the chapters on this story has been viewed by 666 people. That can't be good.**

 **This chapter has been written for a while but I've been changing things around and I don't like how I wrote it. But I know that I have to upload at some point so hopefully it is okay.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 36**

Maybe it was because the two of them were throwing glares at one another so frequently. Maybe it was because of the silent tension within the air. Maybe it was because they had not said a word to each other throughout the entire session. Whichever one it was, Naruto was sure his teammates were currently not on good terms.

He was sure of it. While Sakura had been learning Lightning Release, he expected Sasuke to go and help her. When he asked the Teme if he was going to give her any tips, he was given a shove to the ground in response. Then, Naruto forgot about Sakura and started to complain about how the Uchiha thought he was so cool.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?" The blonde asked his teammate, hours into their training session.

"I can't bring out any fucking sparks!" She growled. A quiet scoff was heard, quiet only because it came from faraway, from Sasuke. "Got something to say?" The pinkette asked, eyebrows narrowed in anger.

"Hn." He replied, which led to her getting even angrier but she stayed silent.

"Hey, let's not fight." Naruto said to them, desperate to fill in the awkward tension.

"We wouldn't be fighting if Sasuke wasn't such an ass." The cherry blossom replied.

"We wouldn't be fighting if Sakura didn't value some team members over others." The Uchiha retorted.

"I never said that!" Sakura repeated what she had said the day before. "Stop assuming! You just feel threatened that you are no longer the strongest in Team Seven."

"Oh, and you're the strongest?" He snorted.

"Naruto-kun is." The emerald-eyed girl responded, no waver present in her voice. She genuinely believed that.

"Well..." The Kyuubi's host blushed. "You held back a lot in our previous fight..." He was still blushing.

"But I do know that you're the weakest." Sakura said with a dead serious expression on her face.

"You wouldn't last a second against me."

"Wanna bet?"

They both got into their stances, ready to attack the other, but a cloud of white smoke appeared between them. Produced from the cloud, their jonin instructor stood with his book in hand but an annoyed look in his eye.

"Sorry to interrupt this... lovers' spat." Kakashi said. "But I thought I taught you better than to attack each other." His tone was clear, he was disappointed in his students (excluding Naruto).

Kakashi wondered how to force Sakura and Sasuke to calmly sort out their issues. He was never one for verbal confrontation so his idea was a bit... perculiar.

"This is child abuse!" Sakura screamed, hanging upside down while attached to a tree. She and Sasuke now looked like insects, catterpillars in their cacoons. Their sensei had sealed their chakra and restricted them from moving. Naruto seemed a bit reluctant to the idea but, once their teacher said he was going to buy him ramen for being well-behaved, they had since been forgotten.

The pinkette didn't know how long they had been hanging around - Kokuo rolled her eyes. After training with Kakashi, they were supposed to be having lunch. Sakura's stomach rumbled just as she thought this. Sasuke smirked but then turned red as his stomach followed.

After lunch, her shift at the flower shop would start and she didn't like to be late. Then, Tsunade would finally have time to train her. The Godaime's time was invaluable, the cherry blossom couldn't miss that. Following the training session with her master, she had missions with the rest of Team Seven. All of these things were vital in her life right now and she couldn't let a silly fight with her teammate stop these things from happening.

And she did understand where he was coming from. Naruto knew, Kakashi knew, Ino and Hinata knew. But Sasuke didn't and that did seem unfair. Although he didn't actually have a right to know, he did feel excluded. And maybe he actually did have a right, in some way, as her teammate.

"Sasuke-kun." She began to catch his attention. His bored eyes caught hers. "I'll tell you what happened on that mission." She announced and his eyebrows raised up in surprise. Searching for the right words, the cherry blossom took a while forming them.

"Are you going to tell me or not?" The Uchiha asked impatiently.

"I am, just..." She trailed off. "Okay. On that mission, I was kidnapped by a number of Stone Ninja. Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei were nearby and my father asked them for help in rescuing me." She paused. "With me so far?"

"Hn." He grunted, hiding his glee that she was finally telling him.

"I don't remember much from actually being held captive. But, I was saved and I was taken to the hospital." She finished.

But Sasuke didn't say anything because he expected more. "That can't be the end of it." He said. "You... You're so different."

"Yes, I am. But that wasn't because of the mission. I changed because I noticed that I was a bit of a... burden on this team." She wasn't meeting his eyes, she was focused on a spot on the tree.

"Something big still happened on that mission though."

 _He's not giving up so... I'm gonna have to tell him._

"Something happened and it... changed my life." Sakura revealed. "When I was in the hospital, Sensei told me that I contained... the Gobi."

"Gobi?"

"The Fifth Tailed-Beast." It was silent for a few moments. Sakura couldn't read the expression on her teammate's face but she didn't know if she liked it. Since he made no response, she continued. "That's why I changed a lot after, it's why I suddenly felt really hot at certain times and it's why I sometimes have red chakra."

"Naruto has red chakra too."

 _Shit._

"Eh? Um... Er..." Sakura didn't know how to answer. She didn't exactly get permission from Naruto to tell Sasuke of his state but he had put two and two together. "Yes, fine. He has the Kyuubi."

"Okay." The Sharingan User replied with no further comment.

"Okay? That's it?" Sakura asked and he grunted in response. Normally she would have been angry but he had no comment to make because he wasn't bothered by it. She felt a sense of relief swim through her entire body, her worry washed away by it. He wasn't angry with it, he didn't mind it.

She broke out into a smile, unintentionally letting a small tear leave her eye.

"Are you crying?" Sasuke asked her, wrinkles appearing on his forehead as he looked at her.

"No." She answered defensively. "I'm just so...frustratedwith theboyson my team."

 _Naruto-kun? Sasuke-kun knows about us being hosts to Tailed-Beasts._

 _What?!_

"Have the Love Birds made up?" Kakashi asked. "Are you ready to hatch into butterflies and fly back into the world?" He stiffly moved his arms up and down, as if he were flapping his wings.

"We're fine now." Sakura called and Sasuke grunted.

"Good." The jonin said. "Bye." He poofed away, purposefully forgetting to do something.

"Hey, wait!" The pinkette screamed. "Fuck you! You can't keep us here!" She swore she could hear Kakashi laughing maniacally somewhere.

Eventually, Naruto had set them free. He gave Sasuke a shove, telling him if he ever said crap to Sakura about it, there'd be hell to pay. That started another arguement so the cherry blossom walked away, stating that she was late for work. The blonde ran after her, and the Uchiha frowned at their backs.

* * *

"So, you just told him?" Ino asked during hers and Sakura's shift at the flower shop. "How?"

"Well, I opened my mouth and magically some words came out." Sakura quipped with a roll of her eyes.

"You probably opened your mouth for his di-" The blonde was interrupted by Hinata entering the store.

"Forehead, Pig, did you know that Naruto-kun's screaming at the top of his lungs, on the Hokage Stone Faces, about how he's going to become Hokage?" She asked, her eyes wide in concern.

"Eh, what else is new?" The pinkette brushed it off as it seemed to be a weekly occurence.

"I don't know where he gets all that energy..." The Yamanaka sighed. "And all that chakra..."

"It's genetic in the Uzumaki Clan." The Team Eight kunoichi informed her friend. "They all have a large amount of chakra."

"But, also, Naruto-kun's bijuu eats away at some of his chakra. If he never had the Kyuubi in him, he'd have much more chakra then he has right now." Sakura said to them and they both paused in shock.

"Seriously?" Ino asked to which her friend nodded. "Do you have less chakra?"

"Initially, I did, yes. But I've increased my chakra level since then so I don't even notice it."

"Hmm... Even though there's downsides to it, I wanna have a bijuu sealed within me." Ino admitted. "But, like, a super cool one."

 **"Pardon?"**

"Nothing, Kokuo-chan!" The blue-eyed kunoichi nervously exclaimed. She turned to Sakura for help.

"Don't look at me, you're on your own."

 **"You know, my sister - Matatabi - kind of suits you. She's a blue cat, the Two-Tails. A bit full of herself.A bit of a bitch, we contemplated changing her into a dog instead."**

"We would be PERFECT together!" Ino squealed. "Where is she?"

 **"How am I supposed to know?"** The Gobi asked lazily.

"D- don't you have some sort of super beast sensory skill?" Hinata asked as Kokuo had allowed her voice into the Hyuga's head as well.

 **"Only when they are close."**

"That's not fair." Ino pouted, causing the other girls to laugh.

"Be grateful you don't have a bijuu." Sakura told them. "Don't get me wrong, I love Kokuo-chan. But it puts a target on your back."

"Don't worry." Ino replied, slapping the cherry blossom's back. "We'll protect you."

Although it seemed to be a bit of a joke, Ino and Hinata would never let anything happen to their girls - Sakura and Kokuo.

* * *

Her hands were shaking violently and she forced her chakra to flow throughout them. They started to feel... different. She kept going and lightning began to spark around her body, not just her hands. A vein popped out on her large forehead as she felt the strain of the sparking chakra on her body. For a few seconds, she stayed in the same position - she looked like she was constipated - and eventually she got used to the feeling.

"Finally!" Sakura cheered, her face being the picture of relief as blue sparks crackled around her arms.

"Way to go, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled from his area on the field, scrolls scattered about the ground around him. It was a rare sight but he was determined to learn the Flying Raijin Jutsu.

"Well done." Kakashi made his way over to his female teammate. "You've finally learnt five Nature Releases."

"I'm badass!" Sakura exclaimed, her finger pointing in the air. Accidentally, a line of lightning shot out, and it zoomed through the sky. "Shit..." She mumbled, hoping there were no birds flying above her at that moment.

"Yes, you are 'badass'." Her sensei replied. "Now you'll be known through some ridiculous nickname and have a large bounty placed on your head."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing."

* * *

When Sakura's eyes fluttered open in the hospital, she was confused. Why was she here? Why couldn't she remember? Why was she not in her usual room that the staff knew she liked?

 _The audacity._ She thought.

Suddenly, everything clicked. A wave of information flooded through her body and she tried to make sense of it all.

 _We were on a mission, Team Seven. And those men... They took Sasuke! For his Sharingan. But... Kakashi-sensei got him back, and Naruto and I helped. Sasuke was unconscious and I... I overdid it with my chakra when trying to heal him._

Her breathing quickened and she started shuffling about on her bed. She could hear her heart pumping rapidly and her breaths were matching its pace.

 **"Sakura-chan, calm down."** Kokuo's voice resounded from within her.

 _Calm down?! I don't even know if my teammates are alive!_ Desperately, the cherry blossom's eyes scanned over the room, looking for anything to stop her anxiety attack. But what could she find? She would have to wait this one out.

 **"Think of Sasuke and Naruto switching clothes."** The pinkette paused her thoughts. **"And Kakashi wearing Tsunade's clothes."** A small giggle escaped her mouth. _"Now imagine Ino becoming a jinchuriki."_ Instantly, she belted out a loud laugh that made her stomach hurt. When the short pain faded away, she realised that she was no longer having an episode.

 _Wow... Thanks, Kokuo-chan. Now I have to find the others._

Agonisingly slowly, Sakura walked out of bed. She was feeling better but she still felt tired. However, she wanted to see if her teammates were in the hospital so she was going to tough it up.

Unfortunately, they were. Naruto was fast asleep on one bed and Sasuke was awake but barely responsive when she spoke to him. At least everything was okay. The Sharingan User had no visible injuries and the male jinchuriki seemed fine, happily snoring away.

"That's my ramen!" Naruto cried as he jolted up-right, out of sleep. "Sakura-chan! Teme!" He yelled upon sight of them, bouncing out of bed with ease.

"Not so loud, Naruto-kun." The pinkette shushed him. "Can't believe we all ended up in the hospital... Kakashi-sensei would have looked quite comical carrying all three of us back home."

"I had some help." Their teacher said, strolling through the open door. "My ninken said they like your smell, Sakura."

"Um... Thanks?"

* * *

Sasuke had been falling in and out of sleep throught the entire day and he was kept at the hospital for the night. His release was going to be later in the day so Sakura decided to bring some tomatoes for him.

"Morning, Sasuke-kun." The cherry blossom greeted him. Naruto was already in the room, sprawled out on the ground like a starfish. "You know, I'm not even going to ask." She laughed and placed a plate of tomatoes on a table near her hospitalised teammate.

Silently, she chopped them into slices. But Naruto decided to fill in the silence as he clearly did not like it when it was quiet.

"Teme, how could you eat tomatoes?" The blonde asked, his nose wrinkling in disgust.

"How could you eat ramen all the time?" Sakura retorted but Sasuke didn't say anything. The Kyuubi's host began to complain, stating how his teammates couldn't appreciate good food. After a few beats, the pinkette spoke. "At least we completed the mission."

"Right!" Naruto agreed. "Kakashi-sensei was happy that you were able to conceal the scroll with genjutsu."

The Team Seven Kunoichi smiled and finished chopping the tomatoes up. Absent-mindedly, she moved the plate of tomatoes near Sasuke's face for him to hold.

His hand reached up for it and she thought he was going to pick up a slice of tomato. Instead, his hand smacked the plate and it flew to the floor, scattering the fruits and staining the floor with red juice.

Team Seven all looked at the waste of food, two of them in shock.

 **A/N AAIIIEEEEEEEEE!**

 **I've been thinking about Sakura's ridiculous name that she should be known by. I think it should have to do with her pink hair but the only thing that comes to mind is Pink Bitch (and also Pink Princess) but I don't know.**


	37. Chapter 37

**A/N *coughs* Um... So, like, this story has 40,000 views. I... *dies***

 **Also, 200 followers and 140 favourites, PLUS we are nearing 90 reviews! Omg, those are like... high numbers. Oof.**

 **Update: I wrote this before I hit 90 reviews. Thank you so much!**

 **But seriously, thank you so much for the views and the favourites and the follows and the reviews. It really means a lot - and it inspires me to write more if you review (wink wink nudge nudge).**

 **Also, sorry for taking so so sooo long to update. I was doing my exams but I am done now - feel like I failed them all tbh :(**

 **I'm happy that I took this break though. I felt like I was burning myself out and my chapters were coming out way below average instead of slightly below average.**

 **Enough of that! Sorry this is so long. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter 37**

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura trailed off, at a loss of words. She didn't really know how to react after what he had done. What would one say? 'Hey, you smacked that plate!'

"Teme! Why did you do that?!" Naruto yelled.

 _I'm glad Naruto-kun is here..._ _He knows what to say_ _, even if he just screams._

Sasuke, however, didn't respond. He only stared at the pieces of fruit on the floor. Maybe he was thinking about something. Whatever it was, it gave him the idea to challenge Naruto to a fight.

"No. You guys can't be serious." Sakura told them before they could leave the room. "Sasuke-kun, you're not allowed to and..." She turned to Naruto. "Just no."

But they didn't listen to her. And that was what had shocked her. She was so in shock that she didn't remember following them up the hospital stairs, all the way up to the roof. They were determined to fight each other and Sakura was confused as to why this was all happening.

She observed without saying anything out loud but she was concerned. They always did fight but... Sasuke had been injured on their last mission. It wasn't safe and... Something about his demeanor. It was off.

"You guys..." Sakura tried to capture their attention. Once again, they didn't listen. In fact, their attacks on each other became more serious - Sasuke even activated his Sharingan. "Stop it right now!" The pinkette tried to use more force in her voice but it fell upon deaf ears.

 **"At least they're not using ninjutsu- Wait, they are now."** Kokuo was right as Sasuke attacked with a fire dragon only for it to be countered with Naruto's wind dragon.

 _I should intervene, right? This is getting very dangerous._

 **"They're boys. They just need to get the fighting out of their system."**

 _...Okay._

Thus, Sakura waited on the sidelines. She allowed them to fight but with each passing second, she noticed their movements becoming more... desperate. As if the other boy was becoming too much for them and they just wanted to land a hit... So it would be over.

And they wanted it to be over. Kokuo decided that it was too much when Naruro began to form the Rasengan and Sasuke began to form the Chidori. A swirl of chakra formed in the blonde's hand and lightning crackled in the Uchiha's hand.

 **"Okay, now you need to intervene! You saw what happened when the three of you mixed your attacks and two thirds of that is still a drastic display of destruction."**

"Stop it!" Sakura called, moving out towards them. However, both boys had already charged at each other and it seemed like it was too late.

Pumping chakra into her feet, Sakura appeared right between them just before the collision. Her hand gripped onto their wrists and she spun them towards the water tanks on the other side of the roof, watching as they crashed into them instead of each other. Sasuke's chidori caused a flood of water to come pouring out of the tank whereas, for Naruto, his Rasengan caused a little trickle to drop onto the ground below, as if someone was peeing.

"That was dangerous." Kakashi commented, suddenly jumping onto the roof. He turned to the Kunoichi with his arms crossed. "Imagine if the attacks hit you."

"...Sorry, Kakashi-sensei. I wasn't thinking." Sakura replied, looking down. However, Kakashi ruffled her hair and offered a smile before turning to his other two students - the real ones he was disappointed in.

In true a Kakashi Hatake fashion, he lectured them on not using techniques like that with each other. And Sakura saw how Sasuke reacted to all of it. He didn't care and clearly had more important things on his mind. At least Naruto had the decency to look ashamed of his actions.

When Sasuke ran off without letting Kakashi finish, Sakura was sure that whatever was bothering him was more serious than she had initially thought. He ran, looked in the direction of Naruto's tank and snarled before scurrying off.

"Should I talk to him?" She asked her teacher.

"No, I will." The jonin announced and handed Sakura two pieces of paper that were stapled against each other. It was a mission report. "Hand that to Sandaime-sama, will you?" He asked.

Sakura nodded. "Maybe this is what bothered him." She remarked in reference to the mission. "This all started while Naruto and I were talking about it."

If Kakashi had anything to say about that, he didn't tell her. Instead he offered a goodbye and left - probably to find Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto startled her, somehow appearing behind her without her knowledge.

"Hm?" She asked after composing herself.

"Don't get involved with me and Sasuke." He began to the shock of his teammate. "We need to settle this... without anyone interferring. Then we'll know who's the best."

Sakura began to form a response within her mind but every single one she came up with involved her beating the crap out of Naruto. "You think I'm just gonna stand on the side while you two try and kill each other?" She asked, head tilted with an eyebrow raised. Her voice was low, laced with a a strong amount of seriousness.

"We weren't-" Naruto began but the cherry blossom interrupted.

"If it weren't for me, you two would have killed each other with those moves! This silly rivalry of yours was fun at first, but if it puts either of you in danger then what's the fucking point?!" Now she wasn't able to control herself. "Naruto-kun, can't you see that something is bothering Sasuke-kun? Something that won't be fixed with a spar? As his teammates, we need to help him overcome what he is going through even if he doesn't like it." She finished what she had to say calmly after realising that she was speaking too loudly.

"You're right, Sakura-chan." Naruto replied, scratching his back while looking to the floor. "I guess I just agreed to fight because I wanted to beat him. But, we should help him. Next team meeting, we'll talk it out." Then he offered her his big, bright Naruto smile and she couldn't help but return it.

However... There was that itch at the back of her head. This wasn't the last time something like this would happen... And Sakura hoped that Sasuke and Naruto would never use those moves against each other again.

* * *

"...And that's what happened." Sakura finished telling her friends. Ino and Hinata didn't reply at first, their minds trying to process what the pinkette had told them.

"So..." Ino began. "He just attacked Naruto? ...Out of nowhere?"

"Yep." The emerald-eyed kunoichi confirmed.

"This sleepover got depressing real quick." The blonde replied.

"Did Kakashi-sensei tell you what's the matter with him?" Hinata asked.

"I haven't spoken to either of them since I was with them at the hospital. Then I had training with Shishou, then I had my therapy session and now I'm here." Sakura explained, flopping onto the floor. Ino peeked at her from on top of the bed, poked her forehead and then dramatically rolled on top of her.

"Argh!" The blue-eyed girl cried once the cherry blossom kicked her. "What was that for?!"

"For being annoying." The Team Seven ninja answered, earning a pout in response.

"Yeah, you are annoying." Hinata casually said from on top of the bed, happily eating a cookie.

"I am not!" The other two girls made sounds of disagreement. "Shut up!" Ino growled.

"Anyway..." Hinata continued. "Don't worry so much about Sasuke." She told Sakura. "He's just being a boy."

"That's what I thought at first, but he's been acting so strange lately. With the arguements I've had with him recently and this whole debacle with Naruto-kun, I'm scared it'll effect us in the long run."

"He's thirteen!" Ino dramatically cried.

Sakura looked at her blankly. "Wow, thanks for telling me his age." She rolled her eyes.

"No! He's a teenager going through puberty. It's just a phase."

The cherry blossom frowned before agreeing with the blonde. _I hope it's just a phase._ She thought.

* * *

In the morning, Sakura was getting ready for her day. Hinata had already gpne downstairs for breakfast and Ino was still sleeping.

"Wake up!" Sakura screamed in her ear, shocking the blonde wide awake. She screamed and frantically searched around for what had disturbed her sleep, her eyes landing on her friend who was giggling slightly, hand over her mouth as she tried to contain it.

"Why do you hate me?" She cried, standing up ever so slowly. She had more to say but was interrupted by someone barging in through the door.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, Shikamaru right behind him. The lazy boy attenpted to grab the Dobe and pull him back.

"What are you two doing, barging in here?!" Ino shrieked. "We could have been changing!"

Naruto ignored her. "Teme's gone!"

Just like that, Sakura realised that her bad feeling had been correct. And she knew that everything would change because of this.

 **A/N This chapter may seem like it's all over the place. I've been writing it on and off for a month so it seems weird.**


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